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Number 97
9th month 2000
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9th Query -The Social Order (A meditation before election day) Do you promote social justice and make your life a testimony to fair dealing? Do you seek to understand and appreciate differing cultures and social values? Do you support fair treatment for all regardless of race, gender, age and other differences? Are you concerned for those in our society who are disadvantaged? Do you take your full share of civic responsibility by voting and giving service? Do you oppose the use of land, labor, technology and capital for human exploitation or in ways destructive of other living things? One Year Ago-In The Light On August 14th, the Big Kids First Day School class, accompanied by additional family members worked on building a house with Habitat for Humanity in Warrenton. They spent a very hot morning hammering nails, hauling dirt, and helping in general. Meeting For Business 9/17/00 Dennis Jones gathered Meeting for Business at 12:30 on 9/17/00. Committee reports were received. Ministry and Oversight A committee of Asa Janney, Ting Yi Oei, and Dennis Jones visited Diane Norman, and found clearness for her request to become a member of Herndon Friends Meeting. The Meeting united with their recommendation. Ministry and Oversight continues to sponsor Adult Discussion sessions. Treasurer’s Report Cathy Tunis gave the treasurer's report. As of 9/16 (70% of way through the year), the meeting had collected $16,657 of a budgeted $26,499 in contributions (62%). The treasurer has transferred HFM accounts to a new software package--Quicken 2001. Computer transitions are never easy. Please extend both sympathy and gratitude to the treasurer. Peace and Social Concerns The Pedals for Progress bicycle collection on July 23 brought in 100 bicycles and $1000 to pay for shipment. The bicycles have already been shipped to Central America. Alan Mahood showed particular valor in preparing bicycles for shipment in an environment cluttered with rusted fenders, scattered tools and small children. The First Day School bake sale did a brisk business, donating proceeds to Pedals to assist in shipping. P&SC plans to sell Christmas Ornaments again this year to raise money for the Medical Care for Children Partnership. Committee clerk Paul Murphy proposed a lighthouse motiff; Friends who wish to submit a template for consideration should contact Paul. Hospitality Bonnie Stockslager reported that the meeting spent $245 to feed 32 people for the Catoctin retreat weekend. Meeting budgeted $500 for the retreat, and received $398 in registration fees. House and Grounds Harry Tunis reported for House and Grounds. The sewer line from the meetinghouse to the street has been repeatedly clogged over the last two years. As budgeted last year, House and Grounds has now contracted to have the sewer line repaired at a cost of $3500. Work should be completed in November. November 18th has been designated a Fall Meetinghouse Clean up day. Outside chores are scheduled form 10AM to Noon and inside chores from 12:30 to 2:00 pm. Building Committee The building committee has contracted with architect Evan Lippincott for a formal proposal to expand the meetinghouse. He is reviewing notes from our meetings with town officials, a plat of the property, and the expectations generated by Religious Education Committee last year. Estimates for this proposal are from $2500 to $3000. In May, Meeting approved up to $1000 for this work, and the September business meeting authorized total expenditure up to $3000 for this purpose.Death Penalty Vigils Peace and Social Concerns continues to sponsor candlelight vigils on the steps of the meetinghouse on the evenings that the Commonwealth of Virginia executes a prisoner. On August 30th, a vigil marked the killing of Russell Burket, who was convicted of killing Kathleen and Ashley Tafelski. On September 14th, four Friends, including a visitor from Langley Meeting, held vigil for Derek Barnabei, who was executed for the murder of Sarah Wisnosky. Governor Gilmore has taken no action to consider a moratorium on executions in Virginia. The next execution is scheduled for October 10th, when the state will kill Bobbie Lee Ramdass for killing Kayani, a convenience store clerk. Ramdass was sentenced to death in June 1990, and has been on death row since 1993. Worship Group for Friends of Color A worship group for Friends of Color in Washington DC area is forming. Based on a similar worship group in Philadelphia, the goal is to provide a comfortable place for silent worship and fellowship for Friends and like-minded individual of color and their families. People of color who are members of local meetings, those who attended or who are sending their children to Friends schools, and those who work for Quaker organizations are all invited. Contact Claudia Wair at cwhere@email.com or at 703-620-3259 between 7 and 9 pm.Religious Education Curriculum The Religious Education Committee has divided the First Day School classes into four groups for this year. The youngest group, of pre kindergarten children, will be coordinated by Kim Glazer. Gary Garriott has agreed to be the coordinator for Elementary 1, grades 1-4; and Katherine Cole will manage Elementary 2, grades 5&6. The Big Kids First Day School Class will continue to be coordinated by Debbie Kirkman. Coordinators sign up instructors and help facilitate teaching by organizing First Day school supplies, books and projects. This fall, the youngest group will be using an FCG curriculum called Growing in The Light, followed by Sparklers. Elementary 1 will be using an FCG module entitled Teaching Children About Jesus. Elementary 2 will be studying a Unitarian lesson set entitled Jesus His Life and Teachings. The Big Kids will be studying and attending some other local faith communities.
Blue Ridge Gathering of Friends at Catoctin Quaker Retreat Herndon Friends again hosted the Blue Ridge Gathering of Friends at Camp Catoctin on September 8-10. Thirty two campers shared in the fun and spirit on a perfect fall weekend. Drew Leder, MD PHD, a philosopher at Loyola college led two discussion sessions on Saturday related to his book Spiritual Passages. Drew used familiar stories to illustrate the opportunities for spiritual growth in aging. In the Dickens Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge was transformed through the process of life review, in which reminiscence powers a spiritual awakening. Life review is a process uniquely available to the aging, drawing as it does on life experience. The story of the Passion of Jesus illustrates the human capacity for sacrificial love, and the benefits it offers for both the giver and receiver. Sacrificial love offers the paradox of joy arising from shared sorrow of grief or pain. Sarah's Laugh, in which Abraham's post menopausal wife becomes unexpectedly pregnant shows that while we should accept and welcome the changes of aging, we should leave ourselves open for the possibility of new beginnings. The First Day school class also studied a story from Dr. Leder's book. In The Aikido Master, Ram Dass tells a true story about how after spending years learning the physical aspects of the martial Aikido art, an encounter with a violent drunk and a wise old man taught him that the essence of Aikido was love, and that kindness was more powerful than the throws, holds and blows he had been learning. First Day students also got to see Sam throw his dad to the ground a few times. Bonnie Stockslager organized the hospitality committee and the rest of the participants to provide plenty of lasagna, salad, sandwiches, pancakes, cereal, juice, cookies, cakes and fruit, so there was no hunger at Catoctin--except for poor Tristan, who was still struggling with his allergy elimination diet. To his credit, he stuck to his regimen without (much) complaint. There were minor struggles at the sink as Friends competed to wash dishes, but fortunately there were enough for all. It wasn't all hard work. Katherine Cole led a group of kids and FAP's on a climb up Cumberland Falls, and Ting Yi Oei organized a somewhat more sedate, (and less dangerous) excursion to Twin Lakes. Katherine's wounds are expected to heal soon. In addition to singing, canoeing, lagooning, and playing in the sandbox, participants made gimp laynards, a totem pole, and leather pouches. For the second year, campers participated in an intergeneration circus. We had acrobats, violin playing, acapella soloists, wild animal acts, and an (unfortunately) unending supply of Quaker Light Bulb Jokes. Debbie Kirkman put on a Bon-Do sword demonstration that kept even the fidgetiest of children quiet for a while, and Bonnie Stockslager arranged a visit for Pearletta Mott, a distant cousin of Lucretia Mott who told us about life in her early years as a Quaker. Ione Taylor provided a popular finale as a pocket pal. Plans for next year's retreat are in progress. Clerk's Corner Ting Yi Oei Hymns One of the great pleasures of our Meeting is the hymn singing before worship. There is simple joy in what we do together, a certain spontaneity in how we do it, and genuine democracy in action as hymns are chosen. At Friends General Conference in July, one of the speakers, who was also a music professional, began her address with a song. She combined two of my favorite hymns, Simple Gifts and Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, into a beautiful medley. Alone, each carries a wonderful message; together they brought home the essence of Quaker beliefs. 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free reminds me to remove the clutter from my mind and my life and to keep my priorities straight. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms begins with the line What a fellowship, what a joy divine. Although familiar with the tune, I first became aware of this hymn in watching Eyes on the Prize, the documentary on the civil rights movement. Following the decision to boycott the buses in Montgomery, Ala., the crowd at the church led by Martin Luther king, Jr. broke out in this hymn symbolically capturing the strength that would be needed to make the bus boycott successful. While the setting in Meeting for Worship is nothing like that of the throng that night in Montgomery, the sense of fellowship I feel on the First Day of each week is something with a similar power.
It is in the simplicity of our worship and in the shared silence where I become aware of our gathered spirituality, and how we might seek the Light together. Unspoken Messages Bonnie Stockslager IF my chronic complaint is of a lifestyle and occupational style that is WAY too busy with WAY too much going on and never enough time to get it all done, why jam in a whole extra two and a half day weekend of extra activity? Especially when it involves so much time spent in preparation so far in advance of the retreat and no little elves take care of the usual home and garden chores while I'm gone? Why would I even think of starting another hectic week on the job in a state of sleep deprivation and laundry crisis with a slightly musty tent spread out in the living room?Perhaps it is because of the reminders that a Friendly retreat at Catoctin brings: the delicious sense of legally running away as the car climbs higher up the mountain mile by mile; the way that old bell sounds, calling us together; the special way we gather spiritually when we worship in the surrounds of God's beautiful creation. Perhaps it is how charming children's faces are when they first tumble out of bed in the morning or the truth that sometimes staring at bright stars and listening to the call of an owl is so much more important than sleep. Perhaps it is that we can indeed get along without cell phones, that I need to do more hiking for my mental as well as my physical well being, that hiking with Friends and discovering unexpected beauty together is a priceless experience, that there is an extra measure of fun and freedom in serving food to a crowd with an indestructible concrete floor catching the spills. Perhaps it is that staying overnight and cooking and eating and cleaning together for a whole weekend makes us feel even more like a loving extended family than ever before. That nieces and nephews squealing and splashing in a lagoon, giggling in a sandbox or cavorting in a circus act can teach aunts and uncles what's really important in life. That the spirit of humor and energetic creativity that was the stuff of Barry Morley seems more easily recaptured at Quaker camp than anywhere else. Friendly Bible study inevitably yields new insights even if from a passage read a dozen times before. Something about open air workshops seems to foster knowing each other on a deeper level and even though chores are inevitable, many hands make light work. No my life isn't less busy after Catoctin, but I feel like I can manage it now with more serenity, spirit and smiles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||