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NYYM SABBATH REST AND JUBILEESweet PuzzleWhat difference do they make now, the annual sessions of New York Yearly Meeting of the year 2000, three weeks later for the writer or six or eight or however many weeks later for the reader? Here is a collage of my images and impressions, beginning after that week ended and working backwards into it: ·Notes of thanks and appreciation, questions about minutes, riding around New Jersey, New York, western Connecticut in mail sacks, vibrating through telephone and fiber optic lines, forming in minds and hearts over and over. ·Potluck after meeting at home the day after the close of Yearly Meeting sessions; some polite interest from those who had not attended, and lively conversation about life at home. A definite, quiet question in my heart: How is our recent experience of Yearly Meeting sessions relevant to life at home? ·Talk in the car on the way home . . . "It was really nice to eat together as a family every day. I know that's not what Silver Bay is about, but it was really nice. . . ." ·Earnest conversation with Friends of various ages from several families and attending without family, over lunch in a nearly empty dining room on Saturday, August 5, about marijuana and alcohol and curfews and sexual behavior among young people, and about particular circumstances and rules and community, at Powell House and Yearly Meeting sessions, this year and over the years. ·Even the minutes yielded to the spirit of our time together: Problems are acceptable and can be worked through. ·Even my experience of our final meeting for worship Saturday morning yielded to the spirit of our time together: We can accept something other than what we asked for. I thought I wanted quiet, I knew many Friends had been distressed at too much speaking too close together the previous year. And yet I found myself accepting what happened: a number of Friends were so filled they overflowed, unable to wait and take in yet more. . . .I had the particular help of a Friend in my worship sharing group explaining that his hoping and seeking for mystic moments has been supplanted by his sense that his task is to welcome each thing that comes. . . . ·I was 10 minutes late to meeting for worship Saturday morning because I had to finish packing. My despair as I struggled with clothes and papers and books and equipment "brought me low" as I realized that I was refusing the consequences of choices I had made. ·Friday night as many of the children and the Junior Yearly Meeting staff filled the stage of the auditorium to share with one another and many of us who had not been part of Junior Yearly Meeting some sense of who they were and their time together, there was a familiar ah yes, this is what we do, who we are! upwelling of love and appreciation. ·Friday morning we heard a draft of our epistle to Friends everywhere and learned, again!, that we can do better than we have in the past. We accepted a new idea of listing program events and visitors and statistics as a second page of our epistle. Friends with suggestions for changes in the text worked with the Epistle Committee, so that the final version was read and approved a few hours later. The spirit of our time together let go of rancor and harsh correction, held fast to searching together for truth as we could see it together. One more ·Thursday night café night started and ended much earlier than ever before in living memory. Among the many delights of story telling and joke telling and musical performances, we were amazed by a Pas de Deux for Men Who Do Not Dance, a serious work portraying cooperation and mutual help between men, performed (to music by Bach) by men of our Yearly Meeting who do not usually dance. My images and impressions go on. They reach back through the week and into the weeks and months before the Yearly Meeting gathering at Silver Bay. There were many, many hours of work by Friends who stretched beyond what they thought they wanted to do in preparation for that gathering. I believe that we learned we were not preparing for one week but learning about working and playing and worshiping together. We prepared ourselves by letting go of rancor and harsh correction (letting go again and again!), holding fast to searching together for truth we could pursue together. The spirit of our time together became one in which we do not have to demand or achieve perfection before we can pay attention to God. Problems are acceptable and can be worked through; we can accept something other than what we have asked for; despair can be our teacher, and known treasures can, and so can men who do not usually dance. What shall we "study" ("I ain't gonna study war no more") now? Renewal requires individual beginnings, but it is not a solitary experience. Our sweet puzzle is how to keep learning at home.
Vicki Cooley
NYYM Epistle7th Month 30 - 8th Month 5, 2000 Silver Bay, New York 305th Sessions To Friends Everywhere, Greetings! Jubilee! Jubilee! This was the call to our Yearly Meeting, and before we arrived, we knew about certain shifts to our normal schedule. These changes provoked reactions as different as the personalities from which they came. Friends experienced some loss of opportunity for deliberating matters of business, and also realized a number of unexpected gifts. Joy, spontaneity, celebration of old and new friendships, music, laughter, deep conversations, reflection, and bathing in the Spirit were all part of the character of our gathering. There were puzzled looks of disorientation on the faces of many Friends when they realized that there were hardly any business or committee meetings to attend. Unexpected blocks of time were theirs to enjoy in the spirit of Sabbath rest. Additional worship and opportunities to focus on listening to God were abundant. Like a treasured song reclaimed, we examined our testimonies of traditional Quaker values in vocal ministry, and heard many messages of strong leadings: Seeking forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing; Attending to our responsibility to the poor and imprisoned; Preserving the environment; Challenging the powers of materialism; Preceding business meetings with longer periods of worship; Taking a stronger stand against the death penalty in the United States; Mentoring our young Friends. These were some of the divinely given advices received with great emotion. Friends, our summer sessions at Silver Bay were blessed in many ways. We proceed in respect for each individual's spiritual journey. Our prayers for you go forth with this epistle. In Loving Friendship, Victoria Baker Cooley, Clerk 7th Month 30 - 8th Month 5, 2000 Silver Bay, New York 305th Sessions 635 Friends in attendance, including 193 Youth. Plenary Sessions: Jubilee Welcome for Friends, Concern for Simplicity as a Social Witness, Concern for Relationships Among Ourselves, Concern for Leadings, Concern for Relationships with Those Whose Experiences We Do Not Share, How Does the Truth Prosper Among Us? 21 Intergenerational Study Groups: Simplicity and Good Order in Financial Stewardship, John Woolman's Remembrance: A Plea for the Poor, Quaker Bolivia Link: A Practical and Spiritual Response to World Poverty, Connecting with Bolivian Women: Its Challenges and Spiritual Benefits, Photography, Proclaiming Jubilee, Being in Nature, Intergenerational Bible Study, Quakers and Jubilee, Anger and forgiveness, Care-giving and Receiving, The Old Wise Woman, Quaker Witness to the World: AFSC - FCNL - QUNO, On Behalf of New York State Migrant Farmworkers, Political Activism, From High School into Circle of Young Friends, Quaker Community and the Myths of Our Time, Make a Joyful Noise, AVP's Transforming Power, Wait Patiently Upon the Lord, Progress and Poverty 21 Worship Sharing Groups: Bible Study was led by Paul Anderson of George Fox University. The lives of Leanna Chase Goerlich and Iceline Curtis were celebrated in memorial worship. Why Can't They Find Us?Quakers have a message the world wants to hear. We have an approach to God that heals. We have a powerful and widespread witness. We have a tradition to back us up. Then why is the Religious Society of Friends struggling to maintain its membership?Quaker Outreach Today, a Powell House weekend on September 22-24, 2000, will explore these questions. Sponsored by the NYYM Advancement Committee, this weekend is for Friends who are overt about letting our light shine. Come gather with other Friends-on-Fire to look at how meetings and individuals can improve outreach and how we Quakers can better share our message with people in all walks of life. For more information call Powell House at 518-794-8811, or go to the Web site at www.powellhouse.org . Friends and Prison MinistryThe September issue of Quaker Life focuses on Friends and prison ministry. The prison ministry of New York Yearly Meeting is highlighted in the lead article by Ben Richmond on "Friends Share Their Faith in Prison." The issue also includes stories by prisoners on their experience of Quaker faith in prison, some taken from Inside/Outside . Copies are available from Quaker Life, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, IN 47374 or on the Web at www.fum.org/QL for $2 single copies; $1 in multiples of 10 or more.
Ad Hoc Committee on the Function of NYYMMinutes for May 7-8, 2000 (password required)Observations and QueriesThe following observations and queries were prepared on July 21, 2000, by the Ad Hoc Committee on the Function of the Yearly Meeting. I. Nominating for NYYM committees The committee noted the following: ·We cannot fill many of the positions. Much of the work is left up to a few people. ·Many regional areas do not send Friends. ·The monthly meetings are not as connected to the YM as they wish to be, nor as we would wish them to be. Goal: Simplify YM nominations. One way to get there from here: Nominate only YM officers, board members, representatives, and members of core YM committees: ·Communications and Records ·Finance ·Nominating ·Personnel ·Sessions ·Trustees of Funds and Property Queries for further explorations and consideration: ·Are there any of the other YM committees that could not become task groups, interest groups, or work groups, if they are not laid down? ·Are these the core YM committees that require nominations by the YM? ·Could monthly meetings become more involved in the YM nominating process by providing clearness to persons asked to served? II. Gatherings The committee noted the following: ·many Friends and attenders would like to feel more connected to larger gatherings of Friends, yet often feel those gatherings are inaccessible and sometimes unwelcoming. ·A small percentage of YM members (approx. 10%) come to the YM annual gathering at Silver Bay. Friends question the length, cost, location, and timing of the annual gathering and yet also value our experiences, both youth and adults, at Silver Bay. ·Much of our work needs to be done closer to the monthly meetings. ·Many Friends feel that they are not notified about business prior to YM sessions at Silver Bay. Goal: Include more Friends in Quaker gatherings and work. Queries for further exploration and consideration: ·Would a long weekend option for Silver Bay, which includes all the formal business of YM, allow more Friends to attend? ·If we consolidate into three to five quarterly meetings, could we develop fuller regional meetings? ·Can we use quarterly meetings to season business that might come to YM sessions? ·How can we communicate with monthly meetings about items coming to YM business sessions? III. Religious Education The committee noted the following: ·We know we have a lot of children involved in our monthly meetings. Yet the way we collect data does not provide clear numbers or information on adult transition. ·The Little Committee survey (1999) found that it was on religious education that respondents were most dissatisfied with the information provided by NYYM. ·Nurture of youth is a high priority for NYYM, but there is no staff for this purpose and the committee approach seems insufficient to meet the need. Goal: Focus resources on religious education Queries for further exploration and consideration: ·Can Powell House be strengthened as the "nurture arm" of YM? ·Can religious education be coordinated through Powell House, given additional resources? ·How can we direct resources towards experimentation with support to youth and adult religious education activities? IV. Further Work The ad hoc committee recognizes the need to address the following areas: ·Communication ·Employment and working relationships ·Money management ·Outreach: Advancement, Service, Witness ·Representative meetings and YM sessions ·Traveling ministry ·use of Quaker practice CLERK'S CORNER"Taking Heed"
A spiritual practice introduced some years ago to participants in the Purchase Quarter Quaker Studies program was that of "as if for the first time." It was suggested that we look at another's face, read a familiar passage, engage in some everyday activity as though for the first time. It's a powerful practice. I recently found myself returning to the words of Isaac Penington in just this spirit as I reflected on our corporate experience at Yearly Meeting sessions. I am convinced that "taking heed to the promptings of love and truth" is indeed what we have been earnestly seeking to do in our decision to observe a year of sabbath rest and jubilee. "Taking heed" is an integral part of discernment the process by which we come to know God's will, both as individuals and as a community of faith. Through the process of discernment we become more practiced in distinguishing the authentic movement of the Spirit from that which is solely of human impulse. And so we come to recognize "the leadings of God." Hugh Barbour, in The Quakers in Puritan England , describes four tests which early Friends came to apply to leadings the first being that of moral purity. Is what I am being called to do pure, unmixed in motivation? Is this what God would truly have us do? The second was the test of patience. Knowing that willfulness is impatient of testing, can this concern or inclination endure being waited on? Self-consistency was the third test. Friends hold that the Light does not contradict itself either in history or among members of the Spirit-led group. So, is this leading consistent with other leadings, other revelations of the Spirit in the Bible, in our own experience, in the experience of the community of faith? The fourth test was the power of the Spirit to bring Friends into unity. Does this concern or statement draw us together or tear us apart? Will the fruit be unity or disunity? Of late I have found myself wondering how these tests sit with Friends today. What standards or touchstones of truth do we employ in our personal lives and in our corporate practices of discernment? How do we understand the difference between discernment and making up our minds; between fear and a stop in the mind; between way opening and making something happen? It strikes me that this year of sabbath rest and jubilee offers the spaciousness we need to examine and engage such questions. And it's important that we do, because as Friends, discernment lies at the very heart of our spirituality. It's the process we engage in when we experience a prompting to offer vocal ministry or follow what may be an individual or corporate call to witness. And although it's something we may often lose sight of, the process of meeting for business is one of spiritual discernment.
My hope and my prayer is that the earnest seeking to "take heed to the promptings of love and truth in our hearts" during this year of sabbath and jubilee will lead us more and more deeply into faithful practice and faithful living. And even though I can't remember just where I read or heard the following, I know it's true: The ability to discern is an outgrowth of our desire for God.
Linda Bishop Chidsey
Letters to the EditorNote: Letters to the editor are presented when space is available. Letters raise and explore topics of concern to NYYM Friends. As in any Quaker forum, views here are uncensored, should be expressed briefly and gently, and may discomfort some Friends. Letters longer than 250 words may be delayed for editing or returned. The Publications Committee welcomes unsolicited manuscripts of opinion or reporting and will publish material that seems provocative and timely. Dear Friends, By whose graciousness, kindness, generosity, or decision I continue to receive Spark I do not know, but I am writing to tell you how grateful I am to continue receiving this news of NYYM. I read each issue from first to last word. The news about how some Friends are really returning to the beginning, to the condition under which Friends were born, namely, waiting upon God together, is not only inspiring, but educational for me. It was for several years before I moved to the Ukraine in 1995 that some of us were advocating such a return. So I see that it takes about a decade for a truth to manifest in a large group of people. This same inspiration and education came from the page on worship groups. So far in the Ukraine, I am the only officially listed Friend and we have a worship group of two, with very occasionally three or four. Knowing that the worship groups forming within NYYM take roughly a decade to materialize in some reportable form is an encouragement to not lose heart at the slowness of God's time. I continue to use our little introductory booklet about the Religious Society of Friends by Mary Moehlman in our Russian and Ukrainian translations as my calling card. So far, no additions to the worship groups, but after reading the page in Spark , my trust in divine movement has increased. Expect a report with photographs soon on the progress of construction of Friends House in Pereyaslav and on Friends' service and outreach in the Ukraine. In gratitude and Friendship, Nadyezhda Ivanovna Spassenko Dear editor of Spark , The 2000 week at Silver Bay was different, but as full of busyness as usual. The week did not provide oversight of committees and appointees and the ability of Friends to question committee work. The good order of minute approval did not occur with the people who participated at the time of decision or acceptance. At a minimum committees need to report to their coordinating committees no less than once a year at a time when others can participate in the discussion. In addition, they should bring their programs forward during business sessions [Representative Meeting or Silver Bay] for continuing support or rejection as a concern of YM. If a committee meets at a time other that at RM meetings or Silver Bay, it continues to make Friends wonder if it is doing the work of the YM or the 'agenda' of its members. This was not done in August 2000. The consent agenda concept should be modified and continued, as well as providing the contact prior to discussion in plenary sessions. Posting the minutes was an aid to remember what our action had been. An advice, supposed to have been written by William Bacon Evans, "Seek not for information in open business session which thou shouldst have discovered by reading reports and minutes." The nominating committee is encouraged to continue to do its business before July sessions. Regional meetings should be the place for "Meeting for Worship with Concern for Leadings." The Friend's concern can be tested and supported by the local and regional Friends. Then, when seasoned and supported, could come to the larger body. A Friend needs to test the concern with those who know her/him within their meeting and region. Our program did nothing to bring JYM and the adults together. Sunday evening was 'family worship' and Friday evening 'JYM closing'. Not even the appearance of joint sessions. The study groups were at the same time as JYM, making the older youth choose between their program and our study group. Harold J. Risler, Buffalo Meeting
New General Secretary for AFSCAFSC announces that Mary Ellen McNish will become general secretary of the organization on September 11, 2000. McNish has been a member of Byberry Monthly Meeting for more than 20 years and is currently assistant presiding clerk of FGC, with which she has been involved for 15 years. A resident of Philadelphia, McNish grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She holds a BS in education from East Stroudsburg University and an MS in business from Johns Hopkins. She has more than 20 years' progressive responsibility in nonprofit management, including positions with the YMCA of Camden County and Vicinity and the Burlington County Community Action Agency, as well as having been chief operating officer of Planned Parenthood of Maryland. She also has considerable fundraising experience. Before working with community agencies, McNish was an educator with public school districts and Head Start programs. Worship Sharing Feedback WantedOn this year's evaluation of Yearly Meeting at Silver Bay, there was no place for you to give feedback if you attended a worship sharing group. In order to prepare for next year, the Coordinating Committee for Ministry and Counsel would like to hear from you. Please take a few minutes to write your evaluation of your group. Include in your comments: What was positive or negative about your group; whether there was time for sharing; whether there was time for worship at the beginning or end; and what you would like to see different next year. Please forward your comments to the Yearly Meeting office: Worship Sharing Groups, New York Yearly Meeting, 15 Rutherford Place, New York NY 10003).
Tracy Parham
Help the Publications Committee Help YouThe Publications Committee has been providing new services and would like to provide more, if more are needed, to help Friends use our publications easily. Using Internet services can help some people; providing printed material in a larger type face may help others. We need to know what would be useful, so that we can provide service in the most cost-effective way. Our goal is to make sure that all members can access all publications in a medium that is suitable and comfortable. Some of you may already know that we have some publications available through the Web site. These can be looked at online or printed. We have also made very-large-type versions available to people on demand, and will continue to do this. We plan to issue the 2001 Yearbook in slightly larger type, to make reading easier for you. Access to computers and the Internet is more widespread than you may think and is also less costly than you might think. Many public libraries now have Internet facilities, so that you can access the NYYM Web site and look at material on the screen. Some libraries have printing facilities, either free or at a small cost. This may be of great use to you. If you have a computer and modem for communicating, but do not know what to do or how to do it, the first thing you need to do is sign up with an Internet service. There are free services such as Juno. You also need a program called Acrobat, which will read and display documents accessed from the Web site. Acrobat is available free and can be downloaded from the Internet to your machine. With Acrobat, you can read material online and select the size of lettering that you want. Another option that we have is to put Faith and Practice on audiotape as well as in printed form, so that you can listen to it. We need to know whether Friends would welcome that option. In fact, we need to know much more about what Friends would find useful in the way of publication media We need your input to see which ideas would be useful to follow up on. Please click here for a survey that we ask you to fill out and mail to the NYYM office to give us a better idea of what we can do for you. There is no value to publications that people cannot reach or cannot read, and we look forward to being as helpful as possible to all Friends! Large-Print Faith and PracticeThe Yearly Meeting is about to go to press with a large-print (14-point) version of Faith and Practice . Before we send it to the printer, we need to know how much demand there will be. If you would find a large-print version helpful, or if you know someone who would benefit from large print, please let the NYYM office know, either by writing to NYYM, 15 Rutherford Pl, New York NY 10003, calling 212-673-5750, or e-mailing paul@nyym.org as soon as possible. Impressions of Yearly MeetingRandom Thoughts·I came in with big expectations and little or no experience in the mysteries of sabbath rest and Jubilee; ·Victoria Cooley's openness to Friends feelings led some of us to serve as greeters, baggage-carriers and question-hearers for "first-timers," and we wore little red ribbons which became such fascinating conversation pieces, then the growing awareness that we are all first-timers, every day; ·the youngest children, with unaffected smiles and unconditional love in their eyes; ·the sanctified voice of William Taber offering sparkles of what it means to see ourselves as God sees us; ·the title "worship sharing leader" perhaps less descriptive than a name such as "spiritual midwife" for those who help to draw out from others; ·Paul Anderson's "Truth in the Gospel of John" raising awareness that Truth is a spirit, alive and at work with no limits of space or time; ·attempts at worship with a concern for leadings, yet no end in sight for the practice of coming in with minutes to be ratified, more programmed worship, and more of the ministry that is of man, by man, and standing in the will of man; ·wanting more time for silence after prepared messages, to let the content sink in and work its way through in the Presence that has fullness only when the body is gathered; then the omission of community meeting for worship on the Thursday schedule; processing becoming scattered, community thirsting for more and longer unprogrammed silent worship; ·Arthur Berk's upholding "meaningful worship" in the shared awareness of the Presence that teaches us when we wait on the Lord, the infinite Spirit existing outside and above our collected pieces of Inward Light; ·Ted Perry's in-tradition "opportunities" offering ingress to the Prophetic Stream; ·John Breasted's tender, quiet, courageous and faithful ministry a role model in our midst; ·seeds of understanding that committees can become outward forms of leadings which have run their course; ·intelligent, articulate, sober teenagers stating clearly that there are no guidelines for sex at Silver Bay: any age, any time, any place, any activity unless a parent says: no, you can't do that here, not now and the reason, "Silver Bay isn't a community, not like Powell House." ·lost boys at four A.M., with absent parents and no on-campus sponsors, fleeing in slowest motion toward darkness a negative phototropism which almost maintains the appearance of actually moving toward something somewhere, not the conspicuous running escape from whatever it is that adults represent, bedtime just another faded-away boundary in the spiritual rearview mirror; a few adults wondering what "direct and loving intervention" might require; ·Jen Perry's gifted ministry of mediation, gently stripping away the hardened outer skin-shells so that tender new beings can continue to emerge; ·Kim Tsocanos' listening eyes, listening so long that my knees got sunburned sitting on the lawn; ·one more plaintive cry that we don't have enough elders, appointed or otherwise; ·a new (?) term, "Christ-driven" to describe NYYM as distinct from the Christ-centered mystical tradition; ·another new (?) term, "spiritual infrastructure" in a context suggesting that perhaps we need more spiritual plumbing and access to God's electrical outlets; ·Irene Lape's newly articulated (though long held and carefully matured) understanding of Christ in Quaker contexts and elsewhere, well worthy of a wider audience; ·some rending of garments and also some hearts, a few now plowed and seeded; ·staying another night at Hague, seeing God's infinite love and mercy written in liquid light in the stars above; Sunday morning worship in the auditorium followed by porch-talk with Mark Johnson; ·a road-killed deer, face up, frozen in a twisted eternal silent moan, just past the "Welcome to Connecticut" sign on I-84; ·just barely getting these impressions into e-mail while winding a way through Eggleston, Virginia, to see Dariush, Lisa and Miriam, on the way to Ohio YM. John Benson, Wilton Monthly Meeting Impressions of Silver BayMy Silver Bay experience began early Sunday morning before I even left my apartment. Before leaving I turned on the radio and heard part of a sermon from the New York Ethical Culture Society. The speaker told a story about a family, including a five-year-old girl, looking at their menus in a restaurant. When the waiter came to take their orders, the parents ordered; then the little girl said, "I'd like a hot dog and a cola drink, please." The girl's mother said, "She'll have the roast chicken!" The father chimed in, "With milk to drink." The waiter asked the girl, "Do you want mustard or ketchup on your hot dog?" Her eyes lit up, and she said, "Ketchup, please." After the waiter left, the child said, "Mommy, the waiter thinks I'm real!" This left me marveling at how precious children are and how important it for us to recognize that they're very real. With this story resonating in my mind, I found my heart wide-open during the rest of the week. On the train going upstate, I saw a heron by the Hudson, and later an eagle. The train had left Penn Station 58 minutes late, and we lost more time before we got to Fort Ticonderoga nearly two hours behind schedule. Some passengers were upset at being late, but I was glad to realize that I've finally begun to learn some patience. As we left the train, the conductor was giving disgruntled people the toll-free Amtrak complaint number. I simply thanked her, and she said, "And thank you for the smile." At Silver Bay, rain, mist, clouds --beautiful! The downpours turned a low area near the auditorium into a wading pool, in which some of the children had great fun, until the drainage was repaired. Nature's wading pool was something for adult humans to "fix." Meeting for worship at 7:00 A.M., mist over the lake, small clouds drifting across the face of the mountain, birds, Spirit . . . Cheshire Frager's moving and inspiring presentation on living simply in a consumerist society. . . . Ruth Kinsey leading us in a meditation based on Matthew 5:23-24, which tells us that if we bring a gift to the altar and realize that we need to reconcile with someone, we must go and be reconciled, then come back and present our gift. The true gift, of course, as I see it, is the reconciliation. . . . A Friend reminding us to worship first, then take care of earthly business . . . Various Friends sharing their leadings in regard to capital punishment--preaching to the choir, perhaps, but the choir needs to hear the message again, to be nurtured in our commitment. . . . Birds flying through the auditorium during meetings for worship and, once, a chipmunk that came in, checked out the worshipers, and decided to go back outside . . . The hummingbird feasting on the flowers near the Inn porch . . . Sharing AVP experiences on the back porch of Paine Hall, which is at tree-branch level, during a downpour--like being in the canopy of a rainforest . . . Talking with "Emps," the Silver Bay employees. Every interaction I had with them showed them to be knowledgeable, courteous, and friendly. I also asked them whether they are treated well, and each one replied enthusiastically that they are indeed treated well. Quotations I wrote down:
Prayer, inspiration, nurturance, joy . . . And then, back in New York City, in a cab in heavy rain, I felt impatient that the driver kept letting other vehicles in front of us, that he drove too slowly. I chuckled out loud in the back seat, at how easily I could choose impatience. I took a deep breath and let it out, and relaxed, and thanked Spirit for another lesson. I am left, at last, with a query from Wednesday evening: What does Love call us to do?
Paul Busby
I Had a Mission to Get Back into QuakerismMy life has been quite hectic lately, and although I have not written sooner, I have been reflecting substantially since I have gotten back. First, let me tell you a little about myself so that you will understand better my analysis of Silver Bay this year. My name is Sara, I am 16 years old, I live in Geneva, Switzerland, I go to an international school here, and I am a Quaker. I lived in Ridgewood, New Jersey for six years prior to Geneva, where my family was part of the meeting there. During those six years, I grew to know and enjoy the community there, though I rarely took part in the meeting for worship, but I watched the youngest children while the adults did. I met some great people, got close to many families, though I never met a Quaker my age during the first four years there. After our meeting's retreat to Powell House one year, I found out that there was a youth program that looked interesting. I began going, and for two years grew and took part in a community there. Most of my dearest friends were first encountered there and our relationship grew through Powell House. This was my first real series of Quaker experiences; this was the first time I began to understand and enjoy the Quaker worship and attitudes and community. My going back to Silver Bay this year, after an absence of one and a half years, was mainly to see friends, and to try to rekindle the Quaker spirit in me. I had been two years prior, but at that time I was only interested in the JYM games and swimming. This time I wanted to really throw myself into something intense, something that would boggle my mind, and something I could absorb and keep with me forever. So, upon arriving, I was prepared to just take part in the JYM worship and study groups, but as I looked around the room I realized that I did not feel like I could share with my peers comfortably. I felt that I was here to experience spirituality and that the JYM group would only be another obstacle for me to do this. The JYM group is a great group of people, and the leaders have some great ideas for it, but I feel that there was not enough respect among them for the ideas to follow through. There were so many cliques, and people making jokes about serious issues, and popularity, I felt the atmosphere was not one of equality. I do believe, however that as the week went by that atmosphere began to change, but I thought it didn't do it fast enough for all the JYMers to enjoy the positive side of letting some social issues go. I began to think that if at the very beginning of the week, some sort of activity was done which made each and every one of them look around and realize that they were each equally important to the group, that as a group, they can accomplish anything they put their minds to, then the rest of the week could be devoted to group and individual nourishment. I felt that growth was lacking and almost unwanted by the JYM youth. Thinking all these thoughts made me realize that not only should something change, but that I wanted a different atmosphere for the week. There is no feeling like the guilt I got, looking around at my peers, and feeling that we were not at all equals. But because I felt I had this mission to get back into Quakerism, and that I had such a short time to do so little, I decided not to dwell on my personal guilt, but to try to enjoy the week, however I was to pass it. I joined the women's worship group the first day, and a study group entitled Quaker Community and the Myths of Our Time. The women's worship group was such a success and gave me such a feeling of personal accomplishment that I am still recovering from that high. We were groups of 6-8 women, and worshiped together. The week of worshiping was, by far, the most intense and wonderful experience for me. I felt so comfortable contacting the spirit, and cleansing myself of thoughts, and listening to these powerful women, really listening to them. I felt I was empty of everything but their voice and words and that the only thing I could do to help them was to let it all echo through me. And when I shared, it was not premeditated (like it always had been in the past). It was me completely focusing on them, and then, out of the blue, my heart would start pounding and I'd have a billion thoughts running through my mind so fast I didn't dare try to give them a voice. But in this group, there was no dare to do anything, nothing intimidating me, I didn't care if it didn't come out right. So, each morning, without analyzing any thoughts, as soon as I felt my heart booming, I'd just open my mouth and it would all spill out. And I could hear my words echoing through these women, and I could feel them all focusing on what I was saying and feeling. And once the feeling had passed through me, I was so at ease with myself that it was so natural for me to sink back into an echoing body. The women's group helped develop something inside myself I knew I had, but I didn't know the extent of it. I was so pleased every morning to have the opportunity to share with these beautiful women. What a difference in atmosphere it was! After the first day, those little pangs of guilt left me and I was just floating through the whole week, happy as a fish in water. Looking at their generation, then to the CYF's generation, then to the JYM generation, I see such a gap. I don't know how my generation develops to the others. I wish I had a great solution or idea, but I don't. I only know that no matter what activities or goals others may have for us, it will work only if we want it to work for us. I think my problem with JYM is the mixed levels of awareness and motivation and ignorance. I feel open to growth, many of my friends do too, but so many don't. I feel that the older generation should take it upon themselves to at least make us aware of how it could be. Then, with that knowledge, let us see who amongst ourselves is willing to work for that goal. We hear about ideals, and about growth, and about community and equality, but unless we, individually, have the motivation not only to sacrifice, but also to understand, these words remain simply just words. Words need to be elaborated into concepts, into ways of life. I do admit, three years ago, you could have asked me if I grew in the last year, and I would have told you 3 inches. You could have continued to ask me if I grew mentally or psychologically, and I would have told you what classes I had finished, or what textbooks I had been promoted to. Now I would tell you a lot more (which we need not go into, because that is not the point). Somewhere in there I found myself, or rather, began to find myself. The word myself became more than ever before. My definition had expanded. Same thing with friends. A friend three years ago would never be able to satisfy my definition of a friend now. With these changing definitions, we see how we are being transformed; they bring growth. But it is we who induce the transformation. The point I am trying to make (but I fear rather unsuccessfully) is that the JYM group needs to grow. I am afraid that most of the JYMers are, not incapable or not ready as it is easy to think on first impression, but rather unaware of the kind of growth which they could learn so much from. Only on very few occasions did I witness intergenerational conversation (outside of families). Maybe there needs to be more of that. I think that we would all be surprised how eager so many would be to expand their definitions, if only they were aware that they existed. I guess this is my cry to the community. "Make us aware," I am screaming silently. Do you allow yourself to let it echo through you? Maybe, just maybe, if you do, you will teach us how to, and maybe you will come to us screaming silently.
Sara
The Road BackThis was my first visit back to Yearly Meeting Sessions at Silver Bay in three years. I had become disillusioned with the conflicts and troubled that many of my closest friends, including my wife, had left the Society of Friends and gone elsewhere. Three years ago, I too thought I was being led to "shake the dust from my feet." However, after flirting with a local Presbyterian church, a series of events led me back to Quakers. After transferring my membership to a different monthly meeting and experiencing a wonderful year of healing and nurture, I was still reluctant to return to yearly meeting. It reminded me of many painful memories resulting from a lonely witness against proposed changes in our Faith and Practice testimony on marriage, family life, and sex. But the Jubilee focus of this year's sessions, with its emphasis on reconciliation and renewal, seemed a divinely ordained invitation for me personally to return and be reconciled.So, I returned this year to test the waters. I was not disappointed. My most memorable impression was the tremendous warmth that was shown me by many, including some who had been very troubled and angry at my Faith and Practice witness. I felt that I had truly been missed. Even more, I felt that the positive experience demonstrated that I had finally been healed of my anger. Over the years, I had come to realize that I had allowed a "spirit of confusion" to stir up my self-righteous anger over ill treatment (denial of committee appointments, false tales about my personal life and other personal attacks, and silent shunning). This spirit had successfully gotten me to embrace a mock victim theology - in liberal Friends' circles, strongly influenced by "political correctness," white, straight male Christians are demonized and rendered an oppressed minority. I had learned to take comfort in and even worship this white anger of victimhood, instead of the one who had taken on the wounds of this world and brought healing and victory over oppression through the cross. There was a time on Wednesday evening when a speaker was recounting her experience of the Faith and Practice story, when I could feel the old wounds being scraped. How could yearly meeting set up a situation that allowed one very partisan figure to tell only one version of the story? I was back in the grasp of the evil one, but it didn't last. By the next morning I was reminded of Ruth Kinsey's powerful message of individual reconciliation - there are situations of conflict, like Faith and Practice, that are so complicated by human sin that there is no getting to the bottom of it to sort out a balance sheet of justice. In these situations it is best to remember that there is one who died innocently to take upon himself our messy human failings so that we might focus on our healing rather than our bitter wounds. With this reminder, I felt that I could follow George Fox and focus "the ocean of light that dwells over this ocean of darkness." The rest of the week was a delight. I had several opportunities to minister to Friends who are struggling with their own anger. My Catholic wife had a wonderful time and hopes to return with me in future years. I got out several times on the lake, especially enjoying the newly purchased kayaks. In particular, I remember a moment when I was sailing in a stiff wind, hiked out on a Laser, and overwhelmed with the beauty of God's creation. Who could avoid a hymn of praise and thanksgiving in such a moment? Herb Lape, Westbury Meeting Quaker FamiliesSilver Bay is good for children. If there were nothing more to it, that fact alone would bring us back. This year was our third. Archery, swimming, shuffleboard, the fun fair, canoeing, nightly ice cream treats in the store - these are some of the things our sons, ages 8 and 10, enjoyed. So did their parents.It reminds me of an anthropologist studying college students. The college experience, he explained, was only half comprised of study, courses, and formal learning. The other half consisted of social events, peer exchange, and broadening one's horizons in a new, though somewhat sheltered, setting. Silver Bay is like that. Junior Yearly Meeting is a well-run affair dependent on a wonderful and dedicated volunteer staff. Children who sometimes whine and balk about 15 minutes spent in meeting for worship during the year have no problem being up and ready for the JYM morning session at 8:45 A.M. There they are surrounded by youth of other Quaker families, a rarity in their everyday lives, and given gentle guidance amidst activities they obviously find rewarding. Our children now know some friends from past yearly meetings. We've come to trust the setting. The campus is large - it takes 15 minutes to walk from archery to the Slim Point beach at the opposite end. Yet we have come to letting our children roam longer and farther out of sight here than anywhere else. It's a place they can stretch and test their limits (and ours) safely. There is plenty for adults, too. We've attended meetings for business, worship, committees, and interest groups. There is little outside pressure to do so. Our choices are fully our own, and a person might simply relax in a rocker on the Inn porch and read a novel or two as the week goes by. Most adult Friends, though, seem to keep a full schedule. Both spiritual and social concerns find nurturing opportunities at Silver Bay. Indeed, this year's schedule revisions were designed, in part, to slow us down some. A very good idea. My own interest is racial concerns. A Friend last year remarked on the whiteness of Yearly Meeting and, as a white man in a family of color, I experience the same sense of enmeshment in a collectivity of people far more white in composition than my everyday environment. This is not new nor unique to Silver Bay, but rather a reflection of the Society at large, at least as I know it in the eastern United States. At Silver Bay I've found opportunities to explore reasons and remedies for this state of affairs. There surely is no lack of willingness to becoming more diverse, but the way in which to do that is difficult to discern. It will take many years' work, even among those who feel the need fully. At Silver Bay I have the chance to meet and share with Friends carrying on this work throughout NYYM. I could easily have made my entire report on this concern, but it comes back to the same thing, which is the happiness of my children and family. Yes, we hope to see some change, but what is already there is wonderful. May we keep growing deeper and stronger. Jeff Hitchcock, Rahway-Plainfield Similarities and DifferencesLet me describe some of the similarities and differences I found between Yearly Meeting 2000 and other yearly meetings at Silver Bay I have attended.Similarities? The hill between the Inn and Hepbron, where I stayed, remained steep and sometimes (I wonder why?) felt a bit steeper. The cold water of Lake George made the 6:30 A.M. swim as invigorating and stress-reducing as ever. The seats in the Auditorium were as hard as they have always been, the light there just as poor, and the ceiling just as beautiful. Singing in the choir under Marion Cole's angel-light and musically wise direction was a joy. We practiced each day and sang in Friday's programmed worship. Worship sharing provided deep time in the Spirit with old and new friends, as it had in the past. The time and space to share with friends, wherever I found them, but especially on line, waiting to get into the cafeteria, was a gift. The presence of Elizabeth Moger and Charles Varian, two friends whom I have known since I began attending this gathering 26 years ago, connected me to times past. The Bible study and the closing worship were as enriching as they ever have been. Differences? A downpour soaked the beautiful grounds Sunday night and most of Monday, and showers kept umbrellas in our packs until Thursday. Flying black insects at the waterfront, brought out by the heavy rain, bit fiercely. The time for meetings for worship was greatly increased, and the time for meetings for business was greatly reduced. Though I gained much from our worship together, there were two losses - I heard no epistles from other yearly meetings (except one shared during a meeting for worship) and only one memorial minute. There were fewer committee meetings. Last year I attended at least five committee meetings, this year only two. The three-day study groups were an innovation. I was in Care Giving and Receiving, in which I learned much and made new friends. Focused meetings for worship were held on three evenings Monday evening's worship on Relationships among Ourselves, led by Ruth Kinsey, included a guided meditation on forgiveness that was a highlight of the week for me. This was an experiment planned to shift the focus of the week to worship and community building. Like all experiments, like all of life, some things worked better than others, but, all in all, it was well worth the try. Viola Hathaway, Poughkeepsie Of Two MindsNeedless to say, it was a delight to be at Silver Bay again, and to see, not only the familiar faces, but all the brand-new ones. It was a great pleasure to be visiting Friend and to receive a Mosher Fund book. I am of two minds about the format of Yearly Meeting this year. I think that in many ways it was surprisingly successful. The idea of Jubilee was a fruitful one, but I am not sure that diminishing the role of Meeting for Business is that sound an idea. It is a great temptation to regard Meeting for Worship per se as being of a higher spiritual nature than Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business (and I must say that expression has sometimes seemed to me a rather pretentious one). However, Meeting for Business is what we make it, and if it is dull, or petty, or contentious, if we spend hours reinventing the wheel, that is not an intrinsic part of its being. I think I am safe in saying that the Quaker Business Meeting, where decisions are reached by the sense of the meeting ( not , please consensus) is more widely shared as a characteristic modus operandi of Friends across the fault-line between our numerous domains than is unprogrammed worship. The idea of meetings for worship with concerns for leadings is a creative one, but I think Friends would have gotten more out of them if they had had a better idea what to expect. To be fair, that may not really have been possible in an experimental procedure. The idea of the consent agenda is a similar matter. It makes excellent sense, but it is only too easy for Friends to take its operation for granted, and decide that, since everything seems to be so cut and dried, one need not trouble one's head. Another, and more negative, aspect is that some Friends may develop a smouldering resentment against those other people who seem to be making all the decisions but not sharing the information. These are probably what are called "worst-case scenarios," but the possibilities are there. The idea of having study groups instead of interest groups (or at least thus to rename them) seemed to me to be a good one. Worship-sharing was, as always, a very rewarding part of Yearly Meeting. The increased transition time between activities was a great help, though probably I was not the only one who squandered the extra minutes by getting into extended conversations. Considering "How Does Truth Prosper Among Us" was a valuable exercise. I have to admit I was sad that the Yearly Meeting's Tercentenary and the publication of Quaker Crosscurrents were not reviewed as an aspect of the prospering Truth, but those events did happen five years ago, and involved the interest of a minimal number of Friends and of course, you can't include everything. I also regretted the limited number of memorials and epistles from other Yearly Meetings that were read. On My way to Silver Bay, I had pretty well decided that this would be my last year at NYYM, but I had no more than arrived but what I changed my mind. After all, when you have been doing something for 49 years, you hate to break the habit. Affectionately,
Elizabeth H. Moger
Pendle Hill ConferencesClick here to visit the Pendle Hill Conferences site on the Web.Powell House CalendarClick here to visit the Powell House Calendar on the Web.FWCC ReportThe Twentieth Triennial took place in Geneva Point, Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, July 22-30, 2000. There were a number of very memorable moments at this triennial: 1. The diversity of the representatives, observers, and guests. There were over 250 Friends from 40 different countries. The meetings were translated simultaneously and consecutively into Spanish and French. On the campus you would hear at least 17 different languages. 2. The focus of the work being done by the two Quaker UN offices (Geneva and New York). These two committees have focused more of their work on interconnectedness and direct communication. David Atwood (Geneva), Jack Paterson, Lorie Heninger, David Jackman (New York) reported their efforts have produced new and better results. This so excited Friends that they asked that many of their concerns be sent on to the QUNO offices. 3. There was a large African delegation, and for the first time the HIV/AIDS epidemic was openly discussed in their presentation to the triennial. What can be done in Africa to help remains to be seen, but now it is not hidden, but openly faced. The keynote speaker was Simon Lamb (Ireland YM). He spoke to a part of our theme, A People to Listen. He spoke about his own personal spiritual journey to find God and how we as Friends, whether liberal or orthodox, can find our own way together and open ourselves to "A life completely in the arms of God." We tried a new innovation at this triennial of working groups. Of the many issues presented, growing out of concerns from yearly meetings, were: 1. Jubilee 2000 to set free nations under debt, to rid poverty from countries, and the disparity of rich and poor, to renew the earth and the environment 2. Restorative justice to work on the concerns of people in prison and alternatives to custody 3. Peace the problems of conscientious objection to military service in Burundi, the traumatization among people 4. Spiritual nurture within our meetings our identity, authority, and community; leadership development in our meetings; responsibility to serve in our meetings. 5. Spiritual nurture of the world the image of God to the Great Lakes area of Africa 6. The rights of indigenous people a U.N. draft declaration of these rights 7. Reconciliation and justice for indigenous people 8. Education Communication and outreach reports from all these groups were brought back to the plenary sessions for future work. There were numerous interest groups. I attended: 1. The need to reach out to our youth, and more youth programs and involvement 2. Quakers: A Chosen People. Are we like the Israelites chosen by God with a covenant and a promised land? 3. Small-arms control. What is being done and what can be done. Ten of our African reps attended this interest group. It impacts very seriously in their countries. The worship groups (with sharing) meet every morning. This, for me, is a high point of the triennial to be in a group of Friends from our section of the Americas, Japan, Switzerland, and Africa is spiritually very rewarding. These small groups have a time to share (one and a half hours each of seven days) their lives and diversity and to learn more about each other. There was worship in music speaking to our theme of seeking. This was led by Ann Davidson, whose wonderful choral direction was beautiful and moving. There was a panel on the theme of service with the executive secretary of the Africa section, a rep from Latin America, QUNO NY, and Japan. Each spoke about their own concerns of service and how it relates to FWCC. The final evening was a celebration. There were music, dance, songs, poetry. A festival of sharing. A festival of love. We left the twentieth triennial with a renewed spirit of listening, seeking, and service, and a commitment to bring this spirit back to our yearly meetings. There is work, Friends, to be done by NYYM to speak to the concerns raised by our world body of Friends, before the next triennial in New Zealand in 2004. George Rubin
A Special Note from Chris & Mike
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| Look, my dear Friends, to divine providence, and follow in simplicity that exercise of body, that plainness and frugality, which true wisdom leads to; so may you be preserved from those dangers which attend such who are aiming at outward ease and greatness. |
| John Woolman |
Spee Braun, Old Chatham