“The Light, The Seed, The Tree of Life,” by Doug Bennett

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Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, April 10, 2022

How do we talk about a God who is beyond our knowing?

The opening hymn we sang this morning, “Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise,” praises a God beyond our comprehension: “immortal, invisible God only wise, in Light inaccessible hid from our eyes.”  That’s one way to talk about God: to acknowledge that God is so far beyond us we can’t begin to comprehend.  Walter Smith, who wrote the hymn doesn’t even try. 

We Quakers often take a different path.  Sometimes we talk about ‘that of God within.’  That’s pretty inspecific.

Often we speak often of the Light, or the Light Within.  (And it isn’t a ”Light inaccessible hid from our eyes” that we’re talking about.)  We often ask that people be “held in the Light,” and we ask that others “hold us in the Light” in difficult times.  This is Light we claim to be able to experience, and this has become our preferred way of talking about God or Spirit or Jesus. 

Of course, it’s a metaphor.  We don’t literally mean we worship Light in the same way we might imagine a group of people worshipping a volcano or fire; it’s not even like worshipping the great and powerful Oz.  We know words will fail us when we speak of God.  Words can’t really capture the power or the majesty of God.  Words can’t really convey the fullness of God’s love for us.  So, we use a term that gestures at some of what we comprehend about God.  As I say, it’s a metaphor. 

Early Friends (and not just Friends) found this idea of God as Light in the Bible.  It’s often a metaphor there.  Here are some familiar verses

Isaiah 9:2      The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. 

Matthew 4:16    The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

Goodness!  There’s Matthew showing us Jesus quoting Isaiah!

John 8:12      Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

Ephesians 5:8     For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

Drawing from that passage, early Friends called themselves The Children of the Light. 

It’s a very powerful and suggestive metaphor.  When it’s there, Light makes things clear to us.  Light warms us and comforts us.  Light is everywhere.  These are features of Light: that it comforts us, and that it can be anywhere.  We’re saying God is something like this too.  But it’s a metaphor; again, it’s not Light that we worship. 

I find this metaphor of the Light most helpful when I bring to mind that Light can be searching, that it can reveal what is in dark corners, that it can strip us bare, reveal what we would like to conceal.  But we use it less often this way. 

God is more than we can ever wrap our minds around.  That’s a reason we resort to metaphors.  When we resort to a metaphor we’re saying ‘God is sort of like this, in some ways. 

This use of a metaphor, it seems to me, is akin to Jesus’s use of parables.  Most of Jesus’s teaching come to us as parables rather than as rules to follow or dos and don’ts.  We’re meant to learn something from the parable, and we do, but sometimes the parable helps us see that what we’re to learn is more complicated than any simple rule.  We’re learning a way of thinking and learning a way of being that’s beyond simple laws or rules.  Teaching us through parables is a better way to learn that.  But it’s also a warning that we shouldn’t think the lesson can be reduced to something simple or clear-cut. 

It’s the same with a metaphor.  When we remember it’s just a metaphor, we need to remember not to take it too literally – not to settle into thinking that God IS Light – or that’s the totality of God.

I’ve been reading some writings of early Friends.  Here is Isaac Penington, an important early Quaker, and a wonderful writer.  In one of his works, shortly after he began considering himself a Quaker, he wrote of the Savior in this way:

He is the tree of life … whose leaves have virtue in them to heal the nations. He is the plant of righteousness, the plant of God’s right hand. Hast thou ever known such a plant in thee, planted there by the right hand of God?

“He is the tree of life.”  That is another wonderful metaphor – the tree of life planted inside us.

It puts me in mind of another marvelous metaphor much used by early Friends, used perhaps as often as they spoke of the Light.  This is the idea of talking about an indwelling God, the God within, as The Seed.  This metaphor, too, has Biblical roots. 

Here is Matthew 13:31-32   He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven  is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Many of us will remember the parable of the sower that is in three gospels — Mark, Matthew and Luke.  That, too, is about God as “The Seed.”

Here is another take on the Seed:

John 12:23-25    Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

Here is 1 John 3:9       No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Just like the Light, or the Light Within, the Seed is a powerful image.  It, too, is just a metaphor, but it calls out or suggests different aspects of the nature of God and of our possible relationship with God.  I think that’s one reason early Friends didn’t just settle on one metaphor, but shifted from metaphor to metaphor: the Light, the Seed, the Tree of Life, and many others. 

This metaphor of the Seed helps us see God in a different way.  The Light is just there.  But the Seed needs to be tended.  That’s like the tree of life.  It’s just a seed unless it is given the right kind of attention.  If it’s not given the right kind of attention, it may dry up. 

Early Friends sometimes talked, too, of another Seed; this one they called the Seed of the serpent.  Human beings could give their attention to one or to the other.  One of those Seeds would grow, and the other would not.  It’s a choice you make.  Without care and attention from you, it’s the Seed of the serpent that will flourish in you. 

This is very different from Light and Darkness.  There are two Seeds.  We can tend one or we can tend the other will decide which will grow.  If we give ourselves over to greed or envy or hatred, it is the Seed of the Serpent that will grow. 

The metaphor of the Light has been a familiar one since I first encountered Quakers.  I think it has become so common, so used, so overworked, that it’s become a little unhelpful.  It has less potency to help me see God.  These other metaphors are helping me other aspects of God, and thus becoming more useful to me in my spiritual life. 

And I’m finding these three images together, these metaphors of the Light, the Seed and the Tree of Life very helpful to me.  Together, the three metaphors, bring to mind something growing, changing, life-filled.

also posted on Riverview Friend

Falmouth Quarterly Meeting Gathering, April 16, 9am to noon

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Falmouth Quarter will meet on April 16th on zoom from 9 – noon.  We will be celebrating ministry and the life of the Spirit in our meetings throughout the morning in each of the concerns before us.

We will hear Memorial Minutes sharing the lives and witness of Friends we have known and loved.

We will hear the State of Society reports, sharing our experience of Spirit in the life of our meetings.

We will hear reports and sharing about and from individuals with recognized ministries in Falmouth Quarter.

ZOOM Link:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85930886777?pwd=V29mNGk2WFJGNU03VmtaY1UzWW5kUT09

Meeting ID: 859 3088 6777
Passcode: 754382
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Meeting ID: 859 3088 6777
Passcode: 754382
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/k2dvLCJVx

Rally for Clean Drinking Water for Passamaquoddy Citizens of Sipayik, April 11, 10am at the State House

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The Durham Friends Meeting Peace and Social Concerns Committee encourages participation:

Rally for Sipayik Water and LD 906

The rally starts at 10, but you can attend the preparatory session with Wabanaki leaders and Wabanaki Alliance staff starting at 8:00 a.m. in the back room of the Cross Building Cafeteria (in the basement), and plan to stay after the rally to lobby your legislators:
The public water supply delivered to the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik contains high levels of carcinogens and is brown at certain times of year. Over the years, the state and a neighboring town have impeded tribal attempts to access water located on tribally-owned lands to bring clean water to a new elementary school and the larger community. LD 906 would remove those barriers, provide financial assistance to the local water district, and help the Passamaquoddy Tribe access clean drinking water at Sipayik. 

Please join Passamaquoddy Tribal leaders and citizens, the Wabanaki Alliance and supporters next Monday, April 11 at 10 AM outside the State House in Augusta for a Rally and March for Clean Drinking Water for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER 

WHERE: Park at the State Office Building Parking Garage for free. Walk across the street to the outdoor area between the Burton M. Cross Office Building and the State House. 

WHEN: Monday, April 11 from 10 AM – 12 PM.

WHO: All are encouraged to attend! Masks are no longer required in the State House, but we ask that all Lobby Day participants please still wear a mask when indoors and make the best decision for your health and those around you when outside.

WHAT: A rally and march to show widespread support for clean drinking water for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik. Please consider staying after the rally to lobby your State Senator and State Representative! We’ll give you the instructions and materials you need. 

Please click here for homemade sign guidance and remember to register here if you plan to attend.

Clean-Up Day, April 23, 10am to noon and noon to 2pm

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Trustees are planning an outdoor work day. 

When: Saturday April 23, 10-12 and 12-2.  Come for the morning or afternoon; bring a picnic lunch.

What:  Cleaning up the outdoor area around the meethinghouse.

Tasks will include: raking, cleaning up sticks and branches, cleaning up behind the horse shed, bucking up fallen trees as needed, washing outside windows.

Please bring a rake, clippers and/or hand saw, tarps for moving leaves.  Also gloves. Dan will bring a small chain saw.

“Desmond and the Very Mean Word,” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams

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The April 3 message at Durham Friends Meeting was a reading of this book by Cindy Wood. The book is one of those distributed by the Meeting to teachers in this area as part of the Meeting’s Social Justice Enrichment Project.

Desmond and the Very Mean Word, by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams, illustrated by A. G. Ford

An actual event from the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s childhood forms the heart of a story about the difficulties and rewards of forgiveness. Young Desmond proudly rides his new bike through the streets of the township when he encounters a group of aggressive boys who taunt him with a “very mean word.” Desmond struggles with his own feelings of anger and retribution, but, after wise counsel from trusted mentor Father Trevor, finds his way to forgive. 

Worship Sharing on the Peace Testimony, April 2, 4pm

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Peace & Social Concerns invites you to a 

Worship Sharing on the Peace Testimony

 April 2 at 4:00 p.m. EDT, via ZOOM (prior registration required).

Friends are invited to join to share their thoughts and discernment about the Peace Testimony of Friends and how the events in Ukraine have affected them.
Hosted by Quaker House, in Fayetteville, N.C. (near Fort Bragg).

Please note: an RSVP is required to receive Zoom connection details.

Quaker House is hosting a second Worship Sharing session on Saturday, April 2 at 4:00pm EDT. Friends are invited to join to share their thoughts and discernment about the Peace Testimony of Friends and how the events in Ukraine have affected them. The Worship Sharing will be unprogrammed and we will wait for messages to rise from the silence. As a time of
worship, we will not record the session.

If you wish to participate, send an email to wayne.finegar@quakerhouse.org or call 910-323-3912 and the connection information will be sent to you. This will allow us to have a sense of how many will be joining in worship. After the time of worship, we will discuss next steps in this discernment. Some options already suggested include:

  1. Additional worship sharing opportunities.
  2. More formal presentations from Friends who have written or spoken on these topics (suggestions of names with contact information are very welcome).
  3. Discussion groups (probably with smaller numbers) focused on topics of interest. These might well
    include materials for review prior to the sessions.
  4. Activism sharing with a focus on how to achieve real change in an era of social media.
    Friends are encouraged to bring other suggestions for consideration

Durham Monthly Meeting Minutes, March 20, 2022

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        Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met virtually for the conduct of business on Sunday, March 20, 2022, with 23 people present. Sue Reilly, from Portland Friends, joined the Meeting to lend prayerful support for the discussions.

1.     Meeting Opening

Ministry and Council’s recommendation that Leslie Manning, serve as Clerk for the day for this Meeting for Business was approved.

Leslie then opened Meeting for Business with a reading from a proposed chapter for NEYM Faith and Practice, followed by a moment of silent preparation.

There were no additions or edits to the proposed agenda.

2.     Approval of Minutes of February 2022 — Ellen Bennett

The following amendments to the minutes were requested:

  • Regarding the guidelines for use of the meetinghouse, amend minutes to read it was received with gratitude, but not “accepted”.
    • Trustees report requires more specificity. “Bring a final proposal to replace the two furnaces to the meeting.” Finance Committee: 
    • Amend the minutes to read the Finance Committee “Year-End” report was submitted.

               The minutes were approved with the above changes.                                                  

Old Business

3.     Guidelines for use of Meetinghouse — Nancy Marstaller

Nancy clarified how Covid-positive test information for outside groups that use the Meetinghouse, would not be shared beyond those individual groups. Conversation ensued about levels of comfort attending Meeting with those who are unvaccinated.

It was suggested opening the Meetinghouse on 3/27/2022, requiring vaccination and masks. This would serve as a kind of experiment before revisiting the guidelines again at the April Meeting for Business.

The guidelines were accepted with the change of requiring all those attending in person be fully vaccinated. The guidelines will be reviewed at our monthly meeting in April.

              The recommendation to open the Meetinghouse on 3/27, was approved.

4.     Air Purifiers — Sarah Sprogell

To further assist in protecting Meeting attendees from Covid, the addition of air purifiers to the Meetinghouse was researched.

The Meeting approved the recommendation of Trustees to purchase 4 air purifiers with funds from the capital account to help with Covid mitigation.

5.     Trustees — Sarah Sprogell

              The Meeting approved two recommendations put forward by Trustees:

1. A new heating system using heat pumps. Please see appended Trustee Report for specifics.           

2. Replacing the current heat pump that serves the vestry. The Meeting approved this recommendation.

Reports from Committees

6.     Ministry and Council — Renee Cote, Tess Hartford

The Meeting approved the M&C recommendation that April’s Monthly Meeting be moved to 4/24.

The Meeting approved M&C’s recommendation that Gene Boynton receive reimbursement from the charity account for expenses associated with Tommy Frye’s passing. The Meeting also expressed its deep and sincere thanks to Gene Boynton for taking on this responsibility.

Concerning oversight of the use of the Meetinghouse, it was clarified that Trustees have oversight responsibility for outside groups that wish to use the Meetinghouse for gatherings, and M&C has oversight for groups that wish to use the Meetinghouse for gatherings for worship, for example memorial services.

7.     Peace and Social Concerns — Ingrid Chalufour

The Committee brought for discernment Qat Langelier’s request for funds to support her work towards a masters degree program. The request is for $1,000 from the charity account. Following procedure, the request will come for a second discernment at the April meeting.

8.     Finance Committee — Nancy Marstaller

The committee requests $4 – $8K to support the cost of up to 2 travelers from Durham Friends to Cuba in November. Funds would come from the Nellie Woodbury Fund, currently held in a CD.

The Meeting approved Finance Committee’s request for use of the funds from the Woodbury account.

New Business

9.     Resignation Received — Leslie Manning

The Meeting received Kitsie Hildebrandt’s resignation from her role as Treasurer. She will remain in this role until a replacement is found. If anyone is interested in stepping into this role, please see Linda Muller.

        The meeting is deeply, deeply grateful for Kitsie’s service as Treasurer.

10.   Request for use of Meetinghouse — Wendy Schlotterbeck.

Use of the Meetinghouse for the FQM “Emerging from Hibernation” party, scheduled for May 7, was approved.

11.   Statistical Report — Sarah Sprogell

The meeting accepted the statistical report provided to NEYM with tremendous gratitude for the work done.

12.   Nominating Committee — Linda Muller

The Nominating Committee recommended a change to those on the Library Committee, with Nancy Marstaller coming off and Margaret Wentworth joining (again!).

              The Meeting approved these changes to the Library Committee.

Respectfully submitted,

Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk

Attachments:

  • 22.02.20 DMM Business Meeting Draft Minutes
  • DMM Covid Guidelines—Draft
  • Air Purifier Recommendation
  • Trustees Report
  • Ministry and Council Report
  • Ministry and Council Recommendation
  • Peace and Social Concerns Report
  • Finance Committee Report
  • NEYM Statistical Report
  • Nominating Committee Report

Durham Friends Meetinghouse Use Guidelines, March 20, 2022

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UPDATE May 22, 2023: Masks are no longer required in the Meetinghouse. For the safety of those choosing to continue wearing a mask, there will be a section of the Meeting room where we ask that no one without a mask should sit.

Accepted March 20, 2022; to be reviewed regularly.

ENTRY and USE

We require that only fully vaccinated people enter the meetinghouse.

If you are not vaccinated, please join Meeting for Worship by Zoom.

If you feel even the slightest bit unwell, please stay home and join us on zoom.

Masks must be worn at all times when giving the message, announcements, or speaking at any type of meeting or event inside the meetinghouse. We will have a microphone and speaker available in the worship room.

KN95 or N95 masks are preferred. Well-fitting cloth masks are acceptable if 2 or 3 layers, especially with a filter insert or surgical mask added. Plastic shields, kerchiefs, gators, or buffs are not acceptable.

We have a supply of masks available at the entrances to the meetinghouse.

Please maintain 6-foot distancing with people not in your family group or “pod.” We do not have any attendance cap or reservation system.

INFORMATION SHARING

All are asked to sign in when attending meetings, adding your name, phone number and email address to a dated sheet. These will be placed outside each door to the worship room for worship. Clerks or convenors of other meetings will keep their own lists. If you come down with Covid within 3 days of attending a meeting at the meetinghouse, contact the meeting clerk, Bob Eaton, if it was after attending meeting for worship, or the clerk or convenor of any other meeting you attended.

Fellowship before and after meetings is encouraged. Masks must be kept on when inside. Feel free to unmask when outdoors. No food will be served indoors. When weather allows, snack may be served for eating outdoors.

Air purifiers will be used in the worship room. Please use them for other meetings and events. You may temporarily move one from the worship room to another room that you are using for a smaller meeting. 

Turn on overhead fans when using the worship room. As weather permits, open windows in any room that you are using, including the bathroom. Keep windows open for at least 20 minutes after use, if possible, to replace air flow, but please remember to close windows when you leave.

COMMITTEE AND OTHER MEETINGS

ZOOM meetings are available at present and will be in the future as an adjunct when the meetinghouse is open.                                                                            

Meetings and events should be scheduled on the Durham Friends Meeting calendar. Committee clerks can schedule meetings; others need to contact our Trustees for scheduling events. At present the trustee to contact is Sarah Sprogell. There is a link to the calendar on the Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends website. Note if it is a Zoom meeting, in person, or hybrid.

Please meet outside or on ZOOM if your group is not fully vaccinated.

These guidelines apply to all members and attenders, as well as families or any group seeking to hold memorial services or similar events.

Please limit your visit to as few rooms as possible.

Oh God, Eternal Friend and Guide

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OH GOD, ETERNAL FRIEND AND GUIDE – closing hymn at Durham Friends Meeting, March 19, 2022

Worship in Song p. 175; words by Lewy Olfson, music by John B. Dykes

Oh God, eternal friend and guide, I feel you ever by my side.

Through times of darkness, doubt, and stress, Through times of pain and hopelessness,

However deep my doubt or shame, I hear you call me by my name.

Oh God, my all-forgiving friend, You journey with me to the end.

My step may falter, foot may stray, As endlessly I lose my way;

Though weak my purpose, lax my will, I know your love is with me still.

My cries for help go not unheard. Your mercy shines in act and word.

Your grace designed to make me whole, Your gentleness to heal my soul.

For this alone I sing your praise: That you are with me all my days.

Agenda and Materials for Durham Friends Business Meeting, March 20, 2022

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Reports and other materials for the 22.2.20 DFM Business Meeting can be found at this link.

Proposed Agenda for Meeting for Worship with a concern for business, March 20, 2022

Approval of clerk for the day

M and C recommendation for March 20

opening reading

Minutes from previous meeting for approval

AGENDA review

Old Business:

Reopening Meetinghouse

Trustees report and recommendation

Reports from committees:

Ministry and Counsel

Peace and Social Concerns

New Business 

Resignation received 

(Request for FQM event on 5/7?)

Statistical Report

Nominating Committee

Worship

Closing

Durham Monthly Meeting Minutes, February 20, 2022

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February 20, 2022

Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk

        Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met virtually for the conduct of business on Sunday, February 20, 2022, with 22 people present. Bob Eaton, clerk, opened Meeting for Business with a moment of silent preparation.

        Review of approving each minute as it arises and is recorded by Recording Clerk. Narrative may be reviewed and commented on.

1.     Agenda Review — Bob Eaton

No comments or additions

Items that require approval and/or seasoning

2.     Approval of Minutes of January 2022 — Ellen Bennett

            Minutes of the January meeting were approved as distributed with the agenda..

3.     Nominations Committee — Linda Muller

Linda reviewed both the Nominating Committee Annual Report and Monthly Report.

            Doug Bennett was approved as a Meeting Trustee.

Mey Hasbrook was welcomed as a member of the Nominating Committee

The Committee Annual Report should read that consultation took place with Christian Ed members.

            The meeting accepted both reports, with gratitude.

4.     Velasco Portland Durham Sister Committee Report — Nancy Marstaller

The sister committee is a joint group of Durham and Portland Meetings.  Nancy read the proposal for a group to attend a birthday celebration for Cuba Yearly Meeting and Velasco Meeting.

The Meeting whole-heartedly endorsed the proposal to support the travel of up to eight people from Portand Friends and Durham Friends to Cuba and Velasco Friends.

5.     Meeting at the Meeting House Guidelines — Nancy Marstaller

A small working group drafted guidelines to be used when a decision is made to meet again in our meeting house.  The working group welcomes input from Meeting.

It was recommended the following changes and amendments be made to the guidelines:

  • The Clerk should be informed if anyone tests positive for Covid to share information with the Meeting, e.g., through a Friends Note.
  • Delete contact tracing and replace with “information sharing”.
  • It was agreed that vaccination should be a condition of attending meeting, but vaccination cards will not be required for proof. Unvaccinated people are encouraged to join Meeting by Zoom.

Vibrant discussion. New thoughts were shared for the committee to consider, and the Meeting expressed its great appreciation of the Committee’s work.

    The report was received with gratitude with the suggested modifications.

Reports for information and comment

7.     Trustees Report — Sarah Sprogell

Trustees invite Meeting comment and will keep Meeting updated on developments as they work to bring a final proposal to replace the two furnaces to the Meeting.

Sarah introduced this report by clarifying the purpose. The purpose is to listen to the Meeting as we continue our way forward. Information not in the report includes a recent visit from a chimney expert who said that the chimney could accommodate the commercial furnace. A building expert visited the Meeting House and said that heat pumps would work. 

We do have space for additional solar panels that could help with powering heat pumps. The electricity to power the heat pumps, if not from the solar panels, may come from fossil fuels.

Meeting expressed tremendous gratitude for the care and attention paid to these many issues, and looks forward to further developments from the Trustees.

8.     Ministry and Counsel — Tess Hartford and Renee Coté

Tess read a summary of the MCC position, lessons learned, etc. The issue of discomfort around the MCC report and summary was raised.

The Meeting needs to think about contracted services for the future: MCC, IT person, Youth Minister and Outreach, Pastoral Care.

With the understanding that the Clerks group is not a standing committee, it may begin discussion about the MCC position to help discern next steps. 

        Appreciation was expressed to M&C for their work and report.

8.     Finance Committee — Nancy Marstaller

        The Finance Committee Year-End report was accepted with gratitude, in light of this challenging year.

9.     Communications — Doug Bennett for Liana Thompson-Knight 

Communications Committee is committed to making sure that everyone who wants to receive print copies of the newsletter will do so. At a future meeting, it was recommended that 15 minutes be spent demonstrating how to navigate the website to help access the newsletter and other Meeting materials.

10.   Clerk’s Report — Bob Eaton

Clerk was pleased to write a letter of introduction to Friends’ Meetings within New England Yearly Meeting for Mey Hasbrook. Mey will be traveling to Meetings within Yearly Meeting in the coming months.

Respectfully submitted,

Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk

Attachments for DMM 22.02.20:

  • Agenda
  • Draft Minutes of 22.01.16
  • Communications Committee Report
  • Finance Year End Report
  • Finance Spread Sheet
  • In-Person Meeting Guidelines
  • Ministry and Council Committee Report
  • Nominating Committee Report
  • Trustees Report
  • Velasco Sister Meeting Report
  • Clerk’s letter of introduction for Mey Hasbrook

  

Friends Hold Ukraine Situation in the Light

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Ukraine Friends Online Worship

Because many of you have woken up at night to pray with Kyiv Quakers and because of your amazing support, love, and great attention to Ukraine, we will do two Meetings for Worship on Sunday, to reach out to friends in all time zones!

  • The early meeting is scheduled for Friends in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, Oceania, and Japan.
  • The late meeting is scheduled for Friends in U.S.A, Canada, Kenya, and Europe.
  • Join us for a worship meeting to pray for Ukraine = Pray for PEACE!
Click here to worship with Kyiv Friends on Sunday. 11:00 AM Pacific = Noon Mountain = 8:00 PM Kyiv
Click here to worship with Friends House Moscow daily. 9:00 AM Pacific – 10 AM Mountain

from Kyiv Quakers and Julie Harlow, Davis Meeting (3/6/2022)

Quakers of Kyiv posted the following:

There is no doubt that Quakers are people seeking peace. In the past week, we have received dozens of examples of a desperate desire to help Ukraine, prayers for peace, words of encouragement, and assurances of the steadfastness of the basic testimonies that are close to 400 years old, namely, testimonies of peace. God is good to us, and Quakers are a living organization of good people who believe in peace and in God’s light.

Friends Committee on National Legislation released a statement

Also worth reading on the Ukraine Russia situation are posts from Johan Maurer on his blog Can You Believe. A Russian speaker, Johan lived in Elektrostal, Russia from 2007 to 2017, and earlier was General Secretary of FUM.

Resources suggested by Haverford’s Center for Peace and Global Citizenship (22.3.15)

“Wangari’s Trees of Peace,” by Jeanette Winter

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Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, March 13, 2022

Today’s message at Durham Friends Meeting was a reading of Jeanette Winter’s Wangari’s Trees of Peace. (Thank you to Wendy Schlotterbeck for the reading.) This book and many others have been donated by this Meeting to schools in the region surrounding us.

Here’s a summary of the story: As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something—and starts by planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans . . . This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman’s passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.

Clarion Books, 2018

As an opening hymn, we sang “I Am An Acorn, words and music by Carol Johnson, #242 in Worship in Song

I am an acorn, the package, the seed.

God is within me and God is the tree.

I am unfolding the way I should be.

Carved in the palm of his hand.

Carved in the palm of his hand.

P&SC Urges Support of LD 906 — Clean Water for the Passamaquoddy

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March 12 — Durham Friends Meeting’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee is urging Meeting members and attenders to voice support for LD 906 a bill that could finally bring clean drinking water to the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point after a 40-year struggle to address contamination in the water supply from the Passamaquoddy Water District. 

Here’s a link to an appeal from the Wabanaki Alliance.

Here’s a link to a webinar from Maine Conservation Voters.

“Welcoming a Vision,” by Mey Hasbrook

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Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, March 6, 2022

In discerning today’s message, an earlier expectation requires broadening. While writing is an option for some, it is not an option for all. So what I thought would be us writing a letter to the Divine –  the heart of our own hearts –  will become a prayer to the Divine. The prayer will be invited at the message closing. Here’s a query for today, and to which we’ll come back

●from a Quaker named William – Is thy heart right?
●and from today’s closing hymn – Who in God’s heav’n has passed beyond [our] vision?

~~

Since November, I’ve been reading and re-reading Chapter 12 of II Corinthians, all the while navigating life at a strong current. This letter is attributed to Apostle Paul and addresses a young, fractious, floundering church.

Ch. 12 is pretty intense:  from visions beyond words gifted by the Divine, to unavoidable and relentless pain, to divine grace. Paradoxically, weakness can open a path to strength; indeed, herein is the power of Christ, which shapes my life as the power of Love. 

Paul gives this story:  Three times I appealed to the Lord about the thorn in my flesh, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’
So – claims Paul – I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me – which for today’s message, let’s hold as ‘the power of Love’.
Paul continues – Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

A friend of my late stepmother has become a pen pal, and it was she who sent me the reference to this scripture.  Her card arrived after I finished a series of major medical tests, which began due to a diagnosis of a chronic benign condition.  Yet tests evolved to eliminate concerns about cancer.  Indeed, the passage came at an opportune time. 

‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’

I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me – remember, we’re holding ‘the power of Christ’ as ‘the power of Love’.

Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

~~

Paul and the other apostles were traveling ministers, as was William Savery circa the late 18th century.  His national home was the newly-formed United States, mired in partisanship and conquest.  William’s ministry led him to England, and his sermon drawn upon today is titled “An Age of Uncommon Events”*; it’s from 1796.

He reminds Friends, [W]hile we are endeavouring to seek after truth, do not let us be afraid of coming to the knowledge of it.

Recognizing the budding natural science of the age, William commends one science worth them all.  He goes on to explain how this is to know God and one’s self, an inquiry of thought as well as feeling.

The impact of such knowing, explains William, enlarges the love of professors of Christianity –  so, those who claim to be Christian.

He calls upon the standard of Christ’s prayer amid agony, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
And he calls Friends to a prayer, Forgive us our trespasses, only as we forgive them that trespass against us.  Yes, William includes only intentionally.

I am new to William Savery, and found “An Age of Uncommon Events” in search of Quaker references to II Corinthians. 
What arises clearly for today’s message from William’s sermon and Chapter 12 of II Cor. is to honor the heart ache expressed in both – the type of heart ache from being broken open by the Light, by Christ who is the living path of Love.
Also, to face the paradox of heart ache and hardship with the presence of Christ – that is knowing that Christ’s presence is powerful, gifting inner strength through Love.

~~ 
Friends, it is time now to prepare for our prayer to the Divine. For those of you who are able and wish to write this down, feel free. Most importantly, follow whatever form to which you feel called. 

May we be faithful in listening to Spirit, and to welcome continuing revelation. May our worship inspire us to a vision of expansive Love, beginning right here where we are – among one another – even in heart ache, even amid hardship, and always in the presence of Christ.

Transitioning to prayer, I return to the query, and share excerpts from today’s texts:

QUERY
●from Friend William, Is thy heart right?
●from today’s closing hymn, Who in God’s heav’n has passed beyond [our] vision?

EXCERPT from Ch. 12 of II Cor.
Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves before you? We are speaking in Christ before God. Everything we do, beloved, is for the sake of building you up. For I fear that when I come, I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish…

EXCERPT from “An Age of Uncommon Events”

Oh may the God of all mercy, wisdom, and power, hasten this day; enlarge the love of professors of Christianity one towards another, throw down all the walls of opposition, which were built up in the day of departure from the fountain of living water, and bring us again to drink at Shiloh’s stream; that all the heritage may drink at the fountain itself, and the world once more rejoice in knowing him to reign and to rule over all, whose right it is, and ever will remain. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*“An Age of Uncommon Events” is available online through the Quaker Heritage Press web site.

Message from Pastor Yadira, Velasco Friends Meeting in Cuba, February 19, 2022

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From Yadira, pastor of Velasco Friends, via Facebook 2-19-22

Buenas noches. Dios les bendiga. Les saludo desde gibara dónde se celebra nuestra junta anual. Damos gracias al señor por la presencia de las hermana del puente que comparten este tiempo con nosotros. Muchas gracias por el presente que mandaron para nuestra junta de Velasco. Gracias . Voy a enviarles fotos de nuestra asamblea.

Good evening. God bless you. I greet you from Gibara where our annual meeting is held. We thank the Lord for the presence of the sisters of the bridge who share this time with us. Thank you very much for the present you sent for our Velasco meeting. Thank you. I will send you photos of our assembly.

State of Society Report, 2021, Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends

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From NEYM 1985 Faith and Practice: “The [State of Society] report should be a searching self-examination by the meeting and its members of their spiritual strengths and weaknesses and of the efforts made to foster growth in the spiritual life. Reports may cover the full range of interest and concerns but should emphasize those indicative of the spiritual health of the meeting.”

In 2021, Durham Friends Meeting continued to worship as a pastor-less, semi-programmed meeting. During this year we were simple Quakers, maintaining the essentials of Quaker community life: meeting for worship, meeting for business, and some fellowship whenever possible.

We open and close our meetings for worship with hymns, which form a vital source of ministry, including in their selection. We continue to be blessed with message bringers, some from outside our own community, who inspire and challenge us.

We continued to worship via Zoom, but we began the long process of moving to hybrid worship through a threshing process that led to the purchase of a “Meeting Owl.” During this process we have tried to consider what’s best for our entire community; not meeting in person allowed us to protect the more vulnerable among us in keeping with a depth of caring within our Meeting. We remain aware that there are Friends who do not enjoy Zoom, and we would like to have them present.

Friends have been willing to adapt to learn new technological skills to help our community, and gratitude has often been expressed for the task of bringing meeting via Zoom.

The worship among those present on Zoom feels strong. DFM is a group of people from a variety of conditions and traditions; we draw on our unity when faced with challenges. We are a group that enjoys being together, and come from a distance to get here when we have the opportunity to be present in the meetinghouse.

The Monday morning prayer circle holds concerns that have been raised in worship on Sunday.

Mey Hasbrook, the Meeting Care Coordinator, brought her gifts and ministry to us until June of 2021, arranging message bringers, attending to the care of worship rotation, and helping committees with events and programs. Although she no longer serves as MCC, we have continued to benefit from Mey’s messages. It was a test year for developing new tools to fill the gaps in a Meeting now five years without a pastor; direction and supervision, and support for the person tasked with these pastoral responsibilities could be better delineated.

We have fractures in our community, from tensions and challenges that arose at the end of 2021 and continued into the new year. Ministry and Counsel was tasked with assisting in the potential resolution of these tensions. We are prayerfully listening and seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit. Some of the fracturing is influenced by our lack of physical presence in meeting for worship and meeting for business.

We continue to be challenged to be the people we wish to be and to resolve our differences with love and compassion.

We have initiated an educational media project that will harness the talents of our young people to record the faith journeys of members of Durham Meeting.

Wendy Schlotterbeck retired as Youth Minister after over a decade of supporting the children of Durham Meeting with love and concern. As the Clerk of Meeting noted in the Minute of Appreciation (newsletter September 2021), Wendy’s ministry to our youth reminds us of George Fox’s admonition to us: “Then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone; whereby in them ye may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you.”

We sadly note the absence of our children and their families at Meeting as we’ve continued to worship over Zoom. Our youth minister continued to create opportunities to bring youth and families together: a skating party that became a parking lot party; hike on the Papermill Trail; Godly Play on Zoom on Easter; Children’s Day, annual plant sale, and picnic at Labrador Pond in June; at Christmas through wreath making, an outside program, with much-appreciated carol singing at various members’ homes.

We did not have active adult religious education in 2021, and many are feeling the absence.

In late August 2021 we lost Tom Frye, a beloved member of our Meeting. Loving Friends stepped forward to support Tom in the challenges he faced as his journey ended. A group of faithful and caring Friends shepherded Tom to his resting place in the green burial section of the Lunt Cemetery near his friend Sukie Rice.

We held memorial services for persons who passed in 2020. 

We continue to welcome participation from Friends outside of our immediate geographic area.

A great-grandson was welcomed.

The Peace and Social Concerns committee functions like the “mortar” between the worship “bricks” of the meeting.

Participating New Mainer children in Brunswick and Bath received books that will support children’s learning about and value for diversity, peaceful conflict resolution, Wabanaki and African American history, and caring for the environment, distributed by the Social Justice enrichment branch of the Peace and Social Concerns committee.

We along with other Friends across Maine have been engaging with legislative issues of concern regarding the Wabanaki, as well as deepening our understanding of the land we occupy and our relationship with Maine tribes. As noted on the Durham Friends Meeting website, “We are in the homeland of the Wabanaki, the People of the Dawn. We extend our respect and gratitude to the many Indigenous people and their ancestors . . . and all of the Native communities who have lived here for thousands of generations in what is known today as Maine, New England, and the Canadian Maritimes.” 

Responding to the increase in Afghan refugees in Maine, the Peace and Social Concerns committee recommended and Meeting responded with a financial donation and consideration of donation of necessities to these families.

We are learning new ways to support Friends in the callings they have heard.

We continue to engage and connect with Falmouth Quarter and to be part of the Velasco, Cuba–Durham/Portland Meeting sister relationship. We participate in setting the priorities of Friends Committee on National Legislation, we maintain our ties to Friends United Meeting, and we continue to provide assistance to Friends Camp. 

We updated and made significant revisions to our Meeting Handbook, a practice we commend as highly useful.

The Woman’s Society of Durham Friends Meeting met each month this past year, as it has done for decades, with the purpose of supporting ministries across the world and ministries in Maine. Cards and prayers for those in need were sent out each month. Programs and devotions shared by attenders to encourage and challenge were on courage, simplicity, faith, “Come, Abide, Go,” “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and more. Outreach and financial support was given through Monthly Tedford house homeless shelter meals, donations to USFWI Children and Youth projects, Warm Thy Neighbor heating assistance, Midcoast Hunger prevention programs, Good Shepherd food pantry, Friends in Belize projects, Wayfinder schools, and New Beginnings. Inreach has been offered in the well-loved hand-made quilts by Dorothy Curtis for the babies of the Meeting community.

We continue to participate in the work of the Lisbon Area Christian Outreach and the Brunswick Area Interfaith Council.

One member who works among veterans has offered us a wider view of the struggles and conditions of veterans and their families. 

In 2021, after thoughtful consideration and with some sadness, the parsonage was sold. A discernment group for use of the funds has been formed. Ongoing issues in the meetinghouse, such as replacing the furnace, pest control, and repairs, are part of the challenges of owning and caring for a beloved, almost 200-year-old building in the context of rising concerns about good stewardship of the Earth.

As with our meetinghouse, we are a community of aging persons who are challenged by how best to care for ourselves within this sustainable context, and continue to live faithfully, loving God, loving our neighbors and caring for our community.

Bread Day, Saturday March 5, 9:30 am to 2:00 pm

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Youth ministers Maggie Fiori and Gretchen Baker-Smith invite Friends of all ages from across the Yearly Meeting to gather with their local meetings – in person or virtually – to bake, laugh, and consider what yeast and bread have to tell us about Spirit and community. You can read more about it here.

Saturday, March 5: Durham Bread Day- please come via zoom or in person!!

Two options:

  1. For those who feel comfortable gathering in person-with masks:
    1. Gather at 9:30 at our Meeting house kitchen. 
    2. Join the NEYM zoom link at 10, for a short check-in and meditation with others from around New England! https://zoom.us/j/96433956342?pwd=OXhtVGZJMlJHRVhzcTlYV09YSVg0Zz09
    3. Make bread together using our own choices and ingredients.
    4. Join the zoom during sharing times while the bread is rising and baking. (Singing, games, stories…) NEYM zoom ends at 2pm.
    5. Take photos and upload them to the shared site!
    6. Some of us will deliver bread samples to some older Durham Friends who live alone.
  1. Stay in your own kitchen and bake bread!
    1. Join the NEYM zoom link at 10 for a short check-in and meditation with others from around New England! https://zoom.us/j/96433956342?pwd=OXhtVGZJMlJHRVhzcTlYV09YSVg0Zz09
    2. Make bread of your choice, stay on the zoom link or come and go as you please.
    3. While your bread is rising and/or baking, join the zom link for singing, games, stories. NEYM zoom ends at 2pm
    4. Take photos and upload them to the shared site.
    5. If you’d like- share some bread with a neighbor or friend or just enjoy a yummy slice of homemade bread knowing many other Friends are also enjoying their delicious creation.

ZOOM Plan for Gretchen’s Kitchen

March 5, 2022, 10AM-2PM

https://zoom.us/j/96433956342?pwd=OXhtVGZJMlJHRVhzcTlYV09YSVg0Zz09

Meeting ID: 964 3395 6342

Passcode: 326033

One tap mobile

+13017158592,,96433956342# US (Washington DC)

+13126266799,,96433956342# US (Chicago)

TimeSegmentWhat
10:00Welcome, explain the day. Hello’s to each other!
10:10 Introduction Message & Meditation from Gretchen
10:20 Start Bread – all are welcome to make any kind!
11:00Dough will RiseFrom here on out, we will bob and weave with what we do… I expect people to come and go, come late, etc. We will likely read some picture books and possibly people will have stories.. We may also have breakout room optional conversations or Whiteboard Drawing collaborations. Perhaps we’ll sing with different people leading.We will encourage everyone to send photos or thoughts or short videos to share.
2:00Done, celebrate goodbye!
After this time, I’m available by text! But I will be helping my Meeting with their bread day so will be off this zoom. GBS #508-287-6441

Save the Dates! Falmouth Quarterly Meeting: April 2, April 16, May 7

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Dear Friends
Falmouth Quarter is planning three events for the spring.  They are:

April 2, Quarterly Family gathering – a time to play with mud and seeds and visit and eat together – probably 9 – 1, location and more details to follow

April 16th – The regular quarterly meeting.  In the spring we hear from those in the quarter with recognized ministries, we hear and forward state of society reports, and we hear and forward memorial minutes.  I hope that meetings can reach out to those with ministries and consider how they would like to report; we will be on zoom, so there are opportunities for creative sharing. – the plan is to meet from 9 – noon.

May 7th – the all Maine Gathering – Falmouth Quarter is responsible for hosting this event.  We expect to be in person, we expect to share a program and to celebrate our community together.  location and more details to follow.
for now, please put these dates on your calendar & let us know if you would like to be part of planning…

love Fritz Weiss & Wendy Schlotterbeck – co-coordinators of Falmouth Quarter

U.S. Friends Visit to Cuba, December 2021

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[Report courtesy of Friends United Meeting]

Worship in Velasco.

In December, Jade and Tom Rockwell, under the care of Camas Friends Church/Sierra-Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends, followed a personal leading to visit Friends in Cuba. They called the ministry ¡Viva Amistad! — Living Friendship. Since Covid has created such difficulty in traveling to Cuba, we thought Friends would be interested in Jade’s report.

We were able to visit two Friends churches during our trip to Cuba in December, Velasco and Puerto Padre. We wanted to visit Havana as well, but, unfortunately, they were closed because of the holiday during the portion of our trip when we were in Havana. (The Friends in Havana Meeting are all from Oriente and return home to spend the holidays with family in the Eastern part of the island.)

The Velasco church only recently reopened after two years of closure for Covid. They are keeping their services short in duration in consideration of Covid risks. Cuban people were under a mandatory lockdown for Covid, which was only lifted in November. People were not permitted to leave their homes during this time, so it was much stricter than what we have had in the United States. Although this is now lifted, masks are still required both indoors and on public streets and this rule is enforced by a fine. The good news is that upwards of 85% of Cubans are reported to be fully vaccinated at this time. In Velasco and Puerto Padre, many restaurants and businesses were still closed. In Havana, most had reopened. 

There are widespread shortages of supplies that are affecting every sector of society. This has led to situations of civil unrest this past year, though we did not encounter any protests or confrontations while we were visiting. 

Included in the shortages are almost every medicine, medical supply, or household item. Even tropical fruits that fall from the trees are scarce in these times. We’re told people take what there is and sell them in Havana where they can make a better profit. It is recommended that visitors bring absolutely every personal item they may need for their trip because if you forget a small item, you likely will not be able to buy it anywhere. For our trip we brought donations of needed items and gave these to the Puerto Padre and Velasco churches for distribution. We also donated some supplies to some Quaker medical students to distribute in their clinical work in the wider communities. Trail mix was a nice luxury treat to share and we were grateful for it when transportation difficulties delayed us and we were left without meals. 

Donations we brought: latex gloves, soaps, toothbrushes, toothpaste, laundry soap, sanitizer, deodorant, menstrual supplies, first aid supplies, condoms, batteries, over the counter pain/allergy/diarrhea relief, vitamins, school supplies, instant read thermometer for Velasco church (other churches could still use these), and some very small gifts for kids in Sunday schools. I can say that absolutely every item we brought was much needed and appreciated. We were told that people are being turned away from needed surgeries if they cannot furnish their own latex gloves, suturing thread, etc. Donations that carry much monetary value are difficult to manage well. Useful-but-not-valuable are the best things to bring. Think what you use most frequently at home. The churches keep a stash of these supplies to respond to needs, but in these times, if the public knows that there are resources, people take them to hoard or sell, so our leading was to let the pastors or healthcare professionals that we know handle them with discretion according to needs they encounter.

We also brought some videos from my Yearly Meeting of songs and greetings and these were very much appreciated. In Puerto Padre, we were able to share them in a worship service. This really encouraged and inspired people to be able to connect and share worship. Puerto Padre and Velasco have both gone through changes in the past few years of embracing more Cuban-style music and expression in worship, and this is bringing a lot of spiritual vitality to their Meetings. In the past, Cuban style instrumentation and music, as well as expression such as movement and clapping, was seen as not appropriate in a Quaker Meeting, but now these communities have a different leading. Friends described this change as liberating their worship, as expressing their authentic selves in worship (rather than imitating a foreign culture), and as expressing the joy of their faith that some described as a spiritual gift of Cuban culture. It is part of a formal music ministry in Puerto Padre, and their praise band sometimes visits other Friends churches to share (not only Cuban music—they enjoy many styles).

We greatly enjoyed participating in this joyful worship and praise in both Velasco and Puerto Padre.

In Velasco, because they did not have a projector, we were not able to share our videos in worship, but we shared with our host family and church leaders who appreciated them. We also captured video greetings from Cuban Friends to bring home.

In Puerto Padre, the church has been able to persist in their construction projects, completing more of them during Covid. They pause the projects when they are short on supplies. Right now they are not able to get cement at an affordable rate, and this is the main material used in the construction projects. However, they are pleased to have completed a cafeteria which is used for a ministry feeding elderly people, and also overnight for up to seventy visitors. They also have a carpentry shop where they build wooden furniture to raise funds for the church. 

There have been some very devastating Covid losses in Quaker communities that folks are still grieving. We remain in prayer for our Friends there, and give thanks that the vaccination campaign has hopefully brought these tragedies to an end in Cuba. 

Friends World Committee for Consultation Meeting, March 12, 2022

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 The 2022 FWCC (Friends World Committee for Consultation) Section of the Americas Meeting is coming online March 12th; registration is open now. The theme is: “Hope and Resilience: Drawing strength from our Quaker faith.”

The bilingual gathering is a great opportunity to witness the true diversity of Quakers in the Americas.

Learn more at: https://fwccamericas.org/_wp/event/2022-section-meeting/

Woman’s Society Meeting Report, January 17, 2022

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Meeting by Zoom, January 17, 2022

Present: Dorothy Curtis/President, Nancy Marstaller/Treasurer, Susan Gilbert/Secretary, Kitsie Hildebrandt, Charlotte Ann Curtis, Margaret Wentworth, Kim Bolshaw, Dorothy Hinshaw, Helen Clarkson.

Dorothy Curtis began the meeting with a discussion of the Card Ministry. Kim has picked up the card supplies from Margaret. Kitsie suggested one be sent to Gene Boyington, who is active at the Portland Meeting with Theresa Oleksiw. Sue Wood also was mentioned. She is healthy and was glad to have Charlotte Ann visit her at The McClellan.

The Devotions Program was brought by Kitsie from the Woman’s Society Book. She referred back to a previous lesson that Nancy had read—Pastor Kathy Berry on Psalm 91, “Whoever dwells in the shadow of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Pastor Kathy said that God does not prevent danger but does help us deal with it. She believes that as Quakers, our mission is to carry out God’s will, and his will must be obeyed. Participants considered the question “has God rescued us?” and shared instances of when they felt rescued.

Kitsie suggested further exploration of rest at restquiz.com, recommended to her by Kristna Evans. The rest quiz is connected with Saundra Dalton-Smith’s book, Sacred Rest, and Dalton-Smith’s website: https://ichoosemybestlife.com/.

Susan read the notes from the December 21 meeting. Corrections were made: two cooked vegetables and a salad instead of cooked vegetable salad for the Tedford House meal, and Phyllis Wetherell, not Phyllis Wentworth. Phyllis was Charlotte Ann’s sister, who had been very active in the Woman’s Society. The family contributed $200 to the Woman’s Society in gratitude for the loving time and attention Craig Freshley and Kim Bolshaw provided for the celebration of Phyllis’s life at the Meeting House. Craig and Kim did not want compensation.

Nancy gave the Treasurer’s Report: Balance $168 with no contributions yet this month. Sexual Support Services of Midcoast Maine, Wayfinder School and New Beginnings will each receive $50.

Nancy did not have a chance to look at the book list but has been reading “A Lenape Among the Quakers.” She found the depiction of the colonial/indigenous relationship distressing.

Margaret made Prayer Requests for two African missions, Samburu Friends Mission and Turkana Friends Mission, noting the importance of their being run by Africans.

The Tedford meal of roast beef, vegetables, salad and dessert was cooked on January 3 by Nancy’s team. This month’s meal on February 7 will be cooked by team C, Dorothy Curtis and Sarah Sprogell.

There was a meeting of the US Friends Woman’s Society NE Region on Zoom on January 15 from 9-11. Attending from Durham Friends were Dorothy Curtis, Helen, Nancy, Dorothy Hinshaw and Martha.

Dorothy closed the meeting with a quote from Martin Luther King, as we met on his National Holiday: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

We were treated to a viewing of Nancy’s colorful block printed banners and Kitsie’s colorful block printed bag.

Respectfully Submitted, Susan Gilbert

“Prayers for Healing, Peace Making, Love and Compassion Among Us and the Wider World,” by Mey Hasbrook

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Inspired after an extended time of duress ~Mey Hasbrook, November 20, 2021

_/|\_ _/|\_ _/|\_

May the Spirit of the Living God fall afresh upon us:

into our hearts and among our communities,

alongside neighbors and opponents,

moving us toward strangers and the estranged.

May we who mourn on the day called “thanksgiving” be held with care, even wrapping one’s arms around one’s self.

May we who gather to break bread seek to mend rifts that distance us from one another.

May we who are “alone” this season invite the blessed company of the Earth, the angelic host, and those who’ve come before us.

May we who are exhausted be gentle and kind to ourselves.

May we who are ill find hope and wholeness wherever is possible.

May we who are materially, spiritually, and/or emotionally rich especially extend generosity with openhearts and hands.

May we who carry hurts and hindrances lay them down at the banks of the Living Waters.

May we who face challenges beyond our imagination find renewed comfort in Psalm 23 and the music of songbirds.

May the Spirit of the Living God fall afresh upon us.

_/|\_ _/|\_ _/|\_

Durham Monthly Meeting Minutes, January 16, 2022

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Durham Monthly Meeting of Friends met virtually for the conduct of business on Sunday, January 16, 2022, with 23 people present. Bob Eaton, clerk, opened Meeting for Business with a moment of silent preparation.

1. Review of Agenda. No comments or additions.

2. Peace and Social Concerns.  Ingrid Chalufour, Clerk of committee presented a report, which is attached to these minutes. The committee asked approval to spend up to $200 from charity account to purchase kitchen trash bins for the Afghan resettlement program.

The meeting approved $200 to support the Afghan families as they resettle in the area. The meeting approved consideration of an additional $300 for the purchase of books for Afghan children. Peace and Social concerns will return with a more detailed proposal after consulting with the Finance Committee. Those wishing to contribute to this program, either financially or with supplies, may do so through Cindy Wood.

3. Approval of December 2021 minutes. Dorothy Hinshaw, Recording Clerk, presented the draft minutes. The meeting approved the minutes with the following two additions. In the first paragraph, the quote Bob opened with should read: “Gentle and giving, the rest is nonsense and treason” To minute 7 should be added: “The Clerks of Communication and Peace and Social Concerns will organize this meeting.” It was noted that two corrections needed to be made to the Woman’s Society report in the newsletter. Corrections will be noted and put in the next newsletter.

4. Approval of January 2022 Special Meeting. Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk, presented the draft minutes. The meeting approved the minutes with the following amendment: The estimates for a new heating system included one for a single-zone system and one for a two-zone system, NOT a three-zone system

5. Nominations Committee. Linda Muller presented a report which is attached to these minutes. The meeting approved Sarah Sprogell to join Trustees. The meeting will consider names of those who would be approached to serve as a third member of the nominating committee. These will be reviewed at Monthly Meeting for Business in February.

6. Finance Committee. Nancy Marstaller presented a report which is attached to these minutes. The budget was reviewed, and recommendations were sought for allocating funds for FWCC.

The meeting approved the budget with the amendment of $200 for FWCC, with thanks to the Finance Committee for their work.

7. Cemetery Fund Audit Report. Sarah Sprogell, Meeting Auditor, present a report which is attached to these minutes. The time and attention paid by others to keep these records clear and up-to-date was noted and those who provided oversight for this work were commended. The work that Sarah put into auditing these funds was also commended. The meeting handbook requires an annual audit of the cemetery fund. A recommendation was made to make the audit biannually. The Finance Committee was asked to present recommendations at the next Monthly Meeting for the frequency of audits for both Trustees’ (incl. Cemetery) and Meeting funds. The Meeting recognized that it will need to find a new auditor, particularly for the Cemetery funds. This question will be considered in February. It was noted that it is not uncommon for someone from the Finance Committee to serve as auditor.

The meeting accepted the review of the Cemetery funds.

8. Ministry and Counsel. Renee Cote and Tess Hartford, Co-Clerks, presented a report which is attached to these minutes. A report on the Meeting Care Coordinator was not distributed before Monthly Meeting. Clerk will disseminate this report within the week. The Meeting is encouraged to read the document in its entirety, with any questions to be directed to Leslie, Wendy, or Martha before February’s Monthly Meeting. The MCC oversight committee will consult with Ministry and Council before the February meeting to think about how best to present the report.

The meeting accepted the report of M&C and expressed its thanks for their work.

9. Report on Cuba. Nancy Marstaller, member of the Portland/Durham/Velasco Sister Meetings Committee, gave an oral report. A delegation of 3 friends from New England are hoping to go to Cuba the end of February. They will be taking supplies — medicines and face masks, for example — having received a list from Cuba for needed items. If people want to contribute to this, contact Nancy for details. One of the books for new Mainers, prayer flags, cards of greeting, and photographs are also being gathered to send to our sister Meeting in Velasco. If people are interested in contributing items or financial support, send these to Nancy by the beginning of February. Contact her for more information.

In addition, on Sunday, February 13th, Portland Friends Meeting is including a Godly Play story in both English and Spanish during Meeting for worship, which will be recorded to send to Cuba as well. Durham Friends are invited to join Portland for worship that day. A link to their worship will be provided. Lastly, a delegation hopes to be able to go to Cuba in November. If anyone is interested in going, they will need to start the clearness process. The meeting thanked Nancy for her report.

10. Trustees’ Report. Sarah Sprogell read the Trustees’ report. It was noted that the Trustees’ three-year report could serve as a model for annual reports from all committees. Those gathered expressed tremendous appreciation for all of the work the Trustees have engaged in over the past three years. The meeting accepted the three-year report of Trustees with tremendous gratitude. A discussion ensued about Trustees’ overall authority and responsibilities with respect to Meeting business. It was noted that past minutes could be reviewed to help the Meeting discern the process through which the Trustees were formed. A small group is planning to look at the process of archiving important documents, which may shed light on the formation of Trustees. It was noted that the Maine Historical Society has copies of all of our bound meeting minutes. Fun to look! The meeting supported the suggestion that the issues brought up in the discussion about the role and responsibilities of Trustees be seasoned by the Communications Committee and brought back to the Meeting to discuss ways to proceed.

Respectfully submitted, Ellen Bennett, Recording Clerk

Attachments:

DMM Business Mtg 22 01 16 Agenda

DMM Business Mtg 22 01 16 Draft Minutes 22.1.09

DMM Business Mtg 22 01 16 Draft Minutes of 21 12 19

DMM Business Mtg 22 01 16 Audit of Cemetery Funds

DMM Business Mtg 22 01 16 Report Ministry and Council

DMM Business Mtg 22 01 16 Report Nominating Committee

DMM Business Mtg 22 01 16 Report Peace and Social Concerns

DMM Business Mtg 22 01 16 Report Trustees

DMM Business Mtg 22 01 16 Report Finance

FCNL Seeks Input on Legislative Priorities, February 23, 2022, 7pm

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Friends Committee on National Legislation wants to hear from the members and attenders of Friends Meetings all around the country as they set their priorities for the coming year.  They are asking what we believe should be emphasized in their work this year. Our answer to that question will then be combined with the views expressed by the members of other meetings.

What do you believe should be given priority by FCNL this year? Peace and Social Concerns Committee will gather the views of our membership and will transmit them to FCNL in Washington. The Committee has called a special meeting for this purpose, to take place online on Wednesday, February 23, starting at 7:00 p.m.

Please join us as we discuss these matters. If you are unable to participate then but wish your views to be considered, please share them with Cush Anthony or another member of that Committee.

FCNL’s areas of activity normally include such things as:

  • Promote peacebuilding and the prevention of war
  • Promote nuclear disarmament
  • Seek a reduce arms sales abroad
  • Work for a fair and equitable justice system
  • Advocate for fair treatment of American Indians
  • Support equal access to elections for all
  • End gun violence
  • Establish fair national economic policies
  • Meet the basic human needs of all people
  • Address the climate crisis
  • Strengthen environmental protection laws

If you plan participate by coming to the meeting on February 23, or if you are unable to come but desire to have your ideas considered at that meeting, please contact Cush at cush@maine.rr.com and he will send you the details.

Experimental, Bilingual, Intergenerational Zoom Worship! February 13, 2022 @ 10:45 am

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On February 13, the Durham, Portland, Velasco sister meeting committee is hosting an experimental, bilingual, inter-generational zoom worship! 
The zoom link will be https://zoom.us/j/94840029377 (no password)

This will be the Sunday worship for both Durham and Portland, with families from the whole quarter invited. Click Here for Additional Materials for the Joint Worship.

We will gather at 10:45 for a worship centering on an original faith and play story in English and Spanish. There will be songs, creativity, and open worship – trying new ways of being together on zoom. (Beyond the break-out room).  The group planning this worship is getting excited.  We hope that families will forget their zoom fatigue and winter doldrums and join us in creating a worship experience to share with our Cuban Friends.

This worship is for us, and it is a gift to the Velasco meeting in Cuba. A recording of the service will be carried to Cuba by a delegation from New England to the Cuba Yearly Meeting in February. 
Please save the date, plan to come and expect more information in the next week or two. 

Full log-in information:

Portland Friends Meeting is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting Sunday, Feb 13 at 10:45am
Topic: Meeting for Worship at Portland Friends
Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime

Join Zoom Meeting for worship 
https://zoom.us/j/94840029377

Meeting ID: 948 4002 9377
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“Becoming Quaker,” by Joyce Gibson

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Message given at Durham Friends Meeting, January 9, 2022

G’ morning Y’all,

Happy New Year!  IT IS GOOD TO  BE HERE WITH EVERYONE.  WHEN I THINK ABOUT THE COMMUNITES I BELONG TO, THIS MEETING IS HIGH ON MY LIST, JUST BEYOND MY FAMILY.  MORE DISCUSSION ABOUT COMMUNITY COMES LATER.

EACH TIME I OFFER A MESSAGE I CHOOSE A TOPIC I AM STRUGGLING WITH; THIS TIME IS NO DIFFERENT.  I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER I AM A QUAKER.  HOW DO I KNOW WHEN I BECOME A QUAKER?  DOES ATTENDING OR BECOMING A MEMBER OF A MEETING MAKE ONE A QUAKER?  WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME A QUAKER?  THUS, THIS MORNING, I HOPE TO THINK WITH YOU ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO BECOME A QUAKER.  IS  BEING A DURHAM QUAKER DIFFERENT FROM BEING A PORTLAND OR WOODBROOKE QUAKER?

HOW DO WE MANIFEST OUR QUAKERISM?  FIRST, I THOUGHT ABOUT OUR TESTIMONIES AND OUR PRINCIPLES.  GEORGE FOX IS NORMALLY THOUGHT OF AS OUR FOUNDER, AT LEAST THE PERSON WHO IS KNOWN FOR ‘DISCOVERING THE LIGHT’, AFTER A LONG SPIRITUAL QUEST WHICH BEGAN IN HIS LATE TEENS BECAUSE HE FELT THAT CHRISTIANS HE KNEW WERE NOT ‘LIVING THEIR BELIEFS’.  GORDON BROWNE, WHO WROTE A PENDLE HILL PAMPHLET CALLED INTRODUCING QUAKERS (Adapted from a Pendle Hill-On-The-Road presentation, Newbury, VT, Nov. 2-3,1990), SUMMARIZED THE PRINCIPLES OF FOX BASED ON FOX’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLE WHICH HE KNEW INTIMATELY:

  • That God is directly accessible to all persons without the need of an intermediary priest or ritual;
  • That there is in all persons an in-dwelling Seed or Christ or Light (he used all these metaphors) which is of God and which, if they will but heed it, will guide them and shape their lives in accordance with the will of God;
  • That true religion cannot be learned from books or set prayers, words or rituals, which Fox called “empty forms”, but comes only from direct experiences of God, known through the Seed or Christ or Light within;
  • That the Scriptures can be understood only as one enters into the Spirit which gave them forth;
  • That there is an ocean of darkness and death—of sin and misery—over the world but also an ocean of light and of love, which flows over the ocean of darkness, revealing the infinite love of God; and
  • That the power and love of God are over all, erasing the artificial division between the secular and religious so that all of life, when lived in the Spirit, becomes sacramental.  The traditional outward sacraments, again characterized as empty forms, are to be discarded in favor of the spiritual reality they symbolize. (Pages, 2, 3 from Introducing Quakers, 1990)

You can imagine that these ideas did not play well in the 17th century, though based Biblically, and Fox’s public ministry was not welcomed by the authorities in the churches.  Though he found thousands of seekers and influenced his ideas to be spread by others, (and eventually across the pond to Boston and Cape Cod in 1656, and 1657 respectively), he paid heavily personally and physically with imprisonments and beatings because of what he believed.

THEN THERE ARE QUAKER TESTIMONIES.  DURING THE TIME I BECAME A MEMBER OF DURHAM MEETING (THIS DOES NOT MEAN I BECAME A QUAKER, Y’ALL!) IN 2015, OUR THEN PASTOR, DOUG GWYN AND OTHERS REFERENCED OUR TESTIMONIES AS AN ACRONYM:  SPICES—SIMPLICITY, PEACE, INTEGRITY, COMMUNITY, EQUALITY, AND SUSTANIBILITY.  LIVING YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THESE TESTIMONIES DEPENDS ON HOW YOU INTERPRET THEM, BUT YOU CAN CERTAINLY FIND EXAMPLES IN OUR FAITH AND PRACTICE BOOKS FROM NEW ENGLAND YEARLY MEETING; ACTUALLY, BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, SOME OF US WERE LEARNING HOW FOLKS IN OUR COMMUNITY VIEWED THE TESTIMONIES THROUGH SHARING THEIR FAITH JOURNIES IN THE ADULT EDUCATION CLASSES.

A BOOK I WANT TO SHARE QUOTES FROM IS A SHORT ONE BY GEOFFREY DURHAM, CALLED WHAT DO QUAKERS BELIEVE ? (Christian Alternative Books, 2019).  HE WRITES REGULARLY ABOUT QUAKERS, AND IS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF QUAKER QUEST, AN OUTREACH PROJECT TO INTRODUCE FOLKS TO QUAKERISM.  IT IS A PAPERBACK OF ONLY 68 PAGES, WITH CLEAR EVERYDAY LANGUAGE.  HERE ARE A FEW THINGS HE OFFERS:

  • Quakers believe that formal creeds are unnecessary, because what matters to them is the truth and integrity of personal experience.
  • Quakers believe that religious doctrines and dogmas are unhelpful and should be set aside.
  • Quakers believe that regular attendance at Quaker meetings has the power to change people, help them find meaning and give them a purpose in life.
  • Quakers believe that they should be guided by love and what love requires of them.  (Pages 9, 10)

HOW DO WE DISCERN WHAT LOVE REQUIRES OF US? 

(BY THE WAY, BROWNE REPORTS THAT EARLY FRIENDS CALLED THEMSELVES “FRIENDS OF TRUTH” OR “PUBLISHERS OF TRUTH” NOT THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS…THE TRUTH THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT WAS CAPITAL “T” AND IT BELONGED TO GOD; IT WAS ETERNAL, UNCHANGING, AND HUMAN BEINGS WOULD EXPERIENCE GLIMPSES OF IT AND GAIN FRAGMENTS OF IT BY BEING OPEN AND SENSITIVE TO THE LEADINGS OF THE SEED, THE CHRIST, THE LIGHT WITHIN).  QUAKERS BELIEVE THAT REVELATION OF GOD’STRUTH DOES NOT END WITH THE BIBLE, BUT CAN BE REALIZED THROUGH PEOPLE’S EXPERIENCES TODAY. 

SO, WE HAVE PRINCIPLES, TESTMONIES, THINGS WE BELIEVE, INCLUDING TRUTH TELLING . . . NOW WHAT?

  • DOES UNDERSTANDING THESE PRINCIPLES AND TESTIMONIES HELP US BECOME QUAKERS?
  • WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE BECOMING QUAKER?
  • DID YOU TAKE COURSES?  DID YOU JUST SOAK IT ALL IN BY ATTENDING MEETINGS?
  • DO YOU HAVE A QUAKER MENTOR OR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR? 
  • DID YOU JUST GROW UP QUAKER AND LEARNED THROUGH YOUR FAMILY AND OTHER FRIENDS?  OR DID YOU BECOME A CONVINCED QUAKER FROM SOME OTHER RELIGIOUS TRADITION?
  • DOES BECOMING QUAKER REQUIRE INDIVIDUAL EFFORT AND COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES?

BEGINNING YOUR QUAKER SPIRITUAL JOURNEY: HERE ARE SOME THINGS I KNOW ABOUT BECOMING A QUAKER…

  1. LEARNING FROM OTHERS:  WE HAVE QUITE A POOL OF PEOPLE WHO EXHIBIT THE PRINCIPLES OF QUAKERISM @DURHAM; JUST WATCHING THEM AND UNDERSTANDING THEIR ACTIONS OFFER ‘WHAT PRACTICING QUAKER PRINCIPLES LOOKS LIKE. You can name them, and some are here today, right on the screen.
  2. LETTING GO OF THINKING YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF YOURSELF (AND OTHERS THINGS IN OUR WORLD); THIS IS THE TOUGHEST CHALLENGE OF OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY.  ROBERT GRISWOLD SHARES IN HIS PAMPHLET ON “MARKING THE QUAKER PATH” (Pendle Hill Pamphlet 439, 2016) THAT NO ONE TOLD HIM THAT BEING ON THIS SPIRITUAL JOURNEY TO BECOME A QUAKER, IS A LIFELONG PROCESS.

YOUR EGO AND OTHER DISTRACTIONS IN OUR WORLD, COMPETE MIGHTLY TO PREVENT YOU FROM CONNECTING TO THAT “STILL SMALL VOICE” OF GOD.  THE GOD WHO LOVES AND ACCEPTS YOU UNCONDITIONALLY, BY THE WAY!

In NEYM’s 1985 Faith and Practice we learn about Waiting Upon the Lord, p.97:

           When you come to your meetings . . . what do you do? . . . Do you walk in the “Light of your own fire and the sparks which you have kindled?”  Or rather, do you sit down in True Silence, resting from your own Will and Workings, and waiting upon the Lord, fixed with your minds in that Light wherewith Christ has enlightened you, until the Lord breaths life in you, refresheth you, and prepares you . . . that you may offer unto him a pure and spiritual sacrifice? (William Penn:  Works, ed. Joseph Besse, 1726, vol 1, p.219.  “A tender visitation,” published 1677.

  • AN EXPERIENCE WITH GOD.  An experience of Divine Reality changes us from fearful, wounded, and lost people into a safe, healing, and compassionate people on a meaningful journey.  With this experience we come to be aware that we are at home in the world and at peace.  It isn’t good enough to think we’ve found the path, or to believe we have found the path, or to hope we have found the path.  We have to find the path and stay on it.  And, to have this experience, we have to stop and wait and be silent, inside as well as outside. (Page 8, Griswold, 2016)

I HAD BEGUN TO GO ON SILENT RETREATS WITH A GROUP CALLED, CHURCH OF THE SAVIOR IN MARYLAND; THIS RELATIONSHIP HAD BEGUN WITH OUR CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN LITTLETON, MA WHEN WE DECIDED TO RE FRESH OURSELVES SPIRITUALLY, WORK ON OUR INWARD AND OUTWARD JOURNEYS AS A CHURCH COMMUNITY.  WE STAYED ON THE MAILING LIST AFTER OUR EXPERIENCE, AND SILENT RETREATS WERE PART OF THEIR REGULAR PRACTICE.  I ATTENDED A COUPLE OF THEM AND ON MY LAST ONE WAS CONVINCED BY A LOVING COUPLE TO CONSIDER FINDING A SPIRITUAL ADVISOR FOR DEEPER SPIRITUAL GROWTH.

*I FOUND A SPRITUAL ADVISOR WHO WAS QUAKER. EARLY ON IN OUR SESSIONS, SHE HAD A PRACTICE WHERE SHE WOULD STOP LISTENING TO MY ISSUES, AND ASK THAT WE STOP TO DISCERN WHAT GOD THINKS ABOUT THE SITUATION.  FOR MONTHS I WOULD CLOSE MY EYES, JUST LOOK AROUND, THINK SHE WAS OUT OF HER HEAD, OR WONDER WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME THAT I COULD NOT HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO ME IN THE SILENCE.  THEN ONE DAY, I HEARD HIM, THOUGH IT DID NOT HAPPEN EVERY SESSION, I BEGAN TO LET GO AND CONNECT.

  • DISCIPLINES:  INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY, SUCH AS PRAYING; LISTENING, BUILDING THE TRUST NEEDED TO CULTIVATE A HEART THAT CAN HEAR AND EYES THAT CAN SEE ALL THAT IS SAID, OR NOT SAID; WORKING ON SPIRITUAL TASKS WITH OTHERS.
  • Becoming a Quaker is ALWAYS A WORK IN PROGRESS. 
  • NEXT WEEK: HOW DO WE HELP AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER ON OUR JOURNEYS—AS A COMMUNITY? 

Report from Falmouth Quarterly Meeting, January 15, 2022

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Falmouth Quarter met on January 15, 2022 virtually; 34 Friends attended from all five meetings in the quarter, with one guest from Farmington Meeting.

We shared news from our meetings:

Windham reported that they had held their annual Christmas Fair which was a great success.  They have some necessary building repairs and have applied for a grant from the Obadiah Brown Fund for support to help with these repairs.  The meeting has been actively involved in lobbying for the passage of LD 1626 for Wabanaki Sovereignty.   The meeting is small, but members have known each other for most of their lives and there is deep community at Windham.

Brunswick returned to meeting on zoom in December.  The zoom meetings are smaller than the in-person ones were.  There have been 2 – 3 new attenders joining Brunswick since the summer. The zoom link for Sunday worship will be shared with the list serve so that others from the quarter might join them.  Brunswick has appreciated visitors from Falmouth Quarter at worship.  

Durham is in the process of figuring out how to do hybrid meetings. There have been two trial runs with the owl camera.  There were two successful outdoor in-person events in December involving families. The Peace and Social Concern committee has a program in which they are giving social justice books to teachers in four communities and to refugee families in the community. Over 70 books have been given to refugee families. One of the books that has been given, What is Given from the Heart, was read to those gathered as a part of the program for this meeting.

Portland Meeting is intentionally forming Ministry Care Committees to support Friends who are engaged in ministries – there are at least six active committees supporting a range of ministries.  A small group formed by Ministry Care committee is naming these groups and supporting their work. Sunday worship at Portland is virtual again and is evaluating this decision on a week to week basis.  Briefly the meeting had had both an in-person worship in the meetinghouse and a zoom worship. The meeting is also beginning a discernment process for how the meeting stewards its resources.

We remembered Linda Lyman from Southern Maine who recently died. 

The program for this January’s meeting was focused on the gift economy.  After an icebreaker, we gathered with the song Love will Guide us sung by K J Williams (Durham); after worship, Jay O’Hara (Portland) provided an overview of the principals of the gift economy as outlined in Lewis Hyde’s book The Gift. This is a way to think concretely about how spiritual energy moves through material things.  Jay shared four principles – 1.) Gifts move – they are not received and held on to, 2.) Gifts are consumed or used, 3.) Nothing is owed in return, and 4.) Trust the gift. These principles move the focus from the value of the material resources to the relationships that frame our decisions about material resources.

Ingrid Chalufour (Durham) read the book What is Given from the Heart by Patricia C. Mckissack and illustrated by April Harrison. Friends reflected on where they saw themselves in this story.  This is one of the books Durham has given to teachers and families in their Social Justice Enrichment Program.

After a break to wiggle, Friends shared concrete examples of ways they have experienced Gift Economy. The group then broke into smaller groups and considered a specific decision a meeting might be faced with about the use of its funds, considering each choice from the perspective of the gift economy. The following queries were offered to guide the discussion: How have we responded to the multiple gifts that we have received? What is our responsibility to individuals who donated money for a specific project? How is our response informed by Friend’s testimonies of community, stewardship, integrity? Who is the recipient of the gift of each choice? How does each choice reflect an attitude of generosity and sufficiency?  How do they reflect an attitude of scarcity?

KJ led us in the song Thanksgiving Eve and we closed in worship.