COMMENTS
We have spent $3.161.68 for gas so far this year versus a total budget of
$2,400. We are behind $1,300 on our commitment to the Yearly Meeting
operating budget. I do not expect that the Meeting will be able to
contribute to WNY Peace Center, Network of Religious, VOICE Buffalo or
H.O.M.E unless there is a generous out pouring of contributions to the
Meeting.
Harold J. Risler, treasurer
April 20, 2001
Reflections on Easter Meeting for
Worship
Jacob Boehme, the German mystic, thought of the Inner Light as a seed that
had been planted in him.
In middle age, having reached depth as a seeker, he looked back on the
seed’s growth and noted how little effort it had taken on his part.
Toward the end of his account, in a
kind of wonderment, he writes, "Has my plant, while I was asleep,
become a tree?"
In reading that, I asked myself: Has not the seed of our meeting, in
much the same way, become a collective tree (like a Banyan) that now and
then blossoms, with insight and spirit - as it seemed to do on this first
Easter Sunday of the millennium? A rejuvenation, part of an ancient cycle
we enjoy.
Submitted by Ted Mills
Easter is when flowers grow in the footsteps of a
jack boot whose heel
tamps home seeds it meant to suppress.
Submitted by Newton Garver
Received via e-mail:
Announcement of FWCC Conference
The Friends World Committee for Consultation: N.E. Section of the
Americas Invites you to participate in the 2001 Spring Gathering June 2nd,
2001 SUNY New Paltz. All are welcome. HOSTED BY NYYM
Save the Date!!!!
THE SPIRIT AND THE ARTS : THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PROCESS OF
CREATIVITY IN OUR
LIVES (NO PRIOR ARTS EXPERIENCE NECESSARY)
PROGRAM (ALL AGES INVITED)
Exploring Creativity: Ways to resolve conflict thru visual art and
hands on
Studio Practice. with Jeri Allyn
Photography as Witness with Maria Darlington
Art in Nature : visit and walking tour to the Storm King Foundation
Art Park
Rediscovering Our Own Artistry and its Spiritual Dimensions with Eric
Booth
Story Telling -sharing personal stories with Chuck Fager
Discovering the voice within Friends Journals
Healing Arts: Nurturing Creativity-Tapping the Inner Well with Arla Patch
The Spirit and the Art of making a Dance
Gathering on Common Ground-Spirit and Art in Nature with Donna Henes
The Spirit and Art of Theater Improv.
The Spirit and Art of Photography in Nature
The Art of Walking Meditation with Elizabeth McGowan
The Spirit and Art of making Music
Ping Pong
For further information and registration call: Robert
Baldridge
212-388-7999 or e-mail : bobby@baldridge.to
or robertartist@hotmail.com
SUNY New Paltz is approx 75 miles from NYCity
Volunteers needed for event.
From NYYM to all Monthly Meetings
A Call to Religious Witness
1) There has been A CALL TO RELIGIOUS WITNESS for the Arctic Refuge which
focuses climate and energy as the larger context in which protection for
the Refuge must be placed. This is to take place in Washington DC from May
1 to 3. For more information, see http://www.religiouswitness.org
Lodging is available at William Penn House.
2) There is a National Council of
Churches Environmental Justice Conference in Washington DC from 4 pm May
20 to 12 noon May 23 at Catholic University. The cost is $140.
Friends willing to work on eco-justice concerns in their Yearly Meeting
are welcome to attend. Some financial assistance may be
available. For more information, see http://www.webofcreation.org
, or contact Ed Dreby, 609/261-8190 or
drebymans@igc.org .
From NYYM to all Monthly Meetings
New Events Site on Web page
We have put a new Events section on
our Web site! This section is intended to complement the Calendar, not
replace it. It will provide more detailed information than the calendar
(including the actual information sheets and registration forms, if any)
for events within the Yearly Meeting and events
of FGC, FUM, FWCC, etc. You may click on the Events link on the home page
of our site, or go directly
to: http://www.nyym.org/events.
People News
(Please send news of you and your loved ones to Stannehill@aol.com)
From Newton and Anneliese Garver:
Anneliese and Newton are Friends-in-Residence at Pendle
Hill for the spring term, which runs from the beginning of April through
mid-June. The duties are vague, but they are both helping with
chores and taking some courses. It is an exciting time at Pendle
Hill, since there is a new Executive Secretary and Pendle Hill is in the
process of redefining itself for the next decade. While they are
away Julia, who has finished her program in graphic design at UCLA, is
living in the house, while she (and Joe) at the same time looks for a
house and job in the Rochester area.
From Ted Dziekonski:
Elaine & I visited the Hospital San Carlos in March
- along with Charlie Diamond of Toronto meeting. While in Mexico
City, we saw the arrival of the Zapatista caravan. The people in
Altamirano deeply appreciated the financial assistance and clothing that
we brought.
FINDING HARMONY
by Newton Garver
It was a real treat to be in
Greensboro with more than 200 other Friends for the annual gathering of
the Section of the Americas of FWCC. The theme was "Dwelling
Together in Harmony," and the rewards of the gathering were (as one
comes to expect from Friends) a combination of substance and process.
In terms of substance the high point was the keynote
address on Friday evening by Eden Grace, a Friend in her thirties who is
completing a Masters degree at Harvard Divinity School. Her talk,
"On the way to harmony: The spiritual disciplines of Christian
reconciling ministry," did not romanticize dwelling together in
harmony but focused instead on the skills that are need to confront
conflict and overcome difference. One who listened carefully to her
message realized that harmony has more to do with disciplines and skills
than with spirit itself, as if it is only through the skills and
disciplines we bring to our encounters with others that Spirit emerges.
In that respect her message reminded me of one of my favorite Quaker
quotes: "Reason is the recipient of Revelation; take away reason and
there is nothing left for Revelation to act on." Of course, the
Spirit is needed as well.
The six disciplines Eden discussed were: Speaking: Are
you careful to speak from your own experience, not overstating or
outrunning our guide? Listening: Do you listen with a charitable
attitude and a presumption of goodwill? Working Together: Do you
cooperate with your brothers and sisters in all matters except those in
which deep differences of conviction compel your to act separately?
Do you engage constructively with such points of difference?
Building Trust Over Time: Are you patient with the slow pace of change,
knowing that God’s purposes are not always served by our hurried
expectations? Unity, Diversity, and Division: Do you seek to
know each other in that which is eternal? Do you uphold the
diversity of spiritual expression? Being Careful: Do you remember
not to underestimate the difficulty of this balancing act? Eden kept
her message focused on the positive, and did not call our attention
(perhaps she did not need to) to the implication that it is due to
ineptness, or lack of the appropriate discipline, that conflict
degenerates
into violence. The contrast between conflict and violence is worth
meditating on. Does not conflict call us to higher spiritual
disciplines? And mustn’t each of us, as we become individuals,
come into conflict with
others in order to express our special distinctive sensibilities and
leadings?
I was reminded, too, of A.J. Muste’s remark,
"There is no way to peace; peace is the way."
A memorable feature of the gathering was its
bilingualism. All the plenary sessions, including worship, and all
the committee meetings were fully bilingual. Presenters were
encouraged to prepare texts, in which case
the translation (always into Spanish, as it happened) was simultaneous,
with headsets for those which wished them or needed them. All
unscripted contributions were translated consecutively, after each few
sentences in
business sessions and committee meetings, after the whole message in
worship sessions. In the latter case the discipline required (not
easy for all Friends) is to be succinct, to stick to the point, to avoid
jargon and other problematic vocabulary, and to wait for the translator.
One of the helpful sheets passed out to attenders was a page of guidelines
about how to speak with consideration for the translators as well as for
the audience. I appreciated these disciplines, and was impressed by
how Friends accommodated to them. All in all the bilingualism made a
deep impression on me.
Of course it was also rewarding to meet Friends,
including some old friends. Meeting with Friends makes such
gatherings a treat rather than a burden.
Besides its annual gathering, the Section of the
Americas also sponsors visitations among yearly meetings, a Youth
Pilgrimage to some historic Quaker area (every two years), regional
gatherings such as the one in New Paltz in June, and workshops for pastors
(two in February, in La Paz and Lima). I came away convinced
that FWCC deserves our support.
Please note: In this newsletter, you will find information about
the Chimasi Horticultural Project, a project sponsored by QBL (Quaker
Bolivia Link). Orchard Park monthly Meeting is bringing a minute to Spring
Gathering proposing that the Farmington Scipio Region take on this
project as a regional outreach. It will be discussed further at business
Meeting at Spring Gathering. Please read the attached information in
preparation for business meeting. Buffalo Monthly Meeting approved a
minute at April business meeting
supporting the Orchard Park minute.
CALENDAR
F/friends, I’ve received no feedback one way or
the other about the calendar pages in previous newsletters which were
actual calendars of the month with days filled in. I am returning to the
old format for this newsletter. If you have a preference, please let me
know. Thanks, Sue Tannehill
