MEETING
DATES
22 September (Tuesday) -
Midweek Worship and Simple Potluck
Finks’
6:15, 222 South Russell
27 September -Meeting
for Worship, 10
4 October -
Meeting for Worship, 10
Query
1, 11
11 October -
Meeting for Worship, 10
Meeting with Attention to Business, 11
18 October -
Meeting for Worship, 10
21 October (Wednesday) -
Midweek Worship and Simple Potluck
Ebby’s, 6:15, 2709 Laurel
25 October
- Meeting for Worship, 10
1 November -
Meeting for Worship, 10
Query
12, 11
27-28 March 2010 -
Midyear Meeting
Bear
Creek Meeting
Earlham, Iowa
Bill
Deutsch, resource person
Note: Deb and A.M. are
winding down the reading of George Fox’s Journal and letters in the hour
before meeting for worship each Sunday morning.
Join us and you can help
decide what we read next.
AND
21 September (Monday) -
Community Picnic and Close of 11 Days of Global Unity
Bandshell Park, 5:30
WHAT EXACTLY – OR INEXACTLY -- IS GOING ON?
Recently Carolyn asked how
Friends use the silence during worship.
Good question.
Do we pray?
What is prayer? What is
worship? What does worship in
the meeting have over individual worship?
How do we experience God?
Quakers don’t have a creed, but we certainly
have tradition and testimony.
There is sound reason and experience - theology - undergirding our
unprogrammed worship.
We will use our consideration of Query 1 on
October 4 to probe our own experience(s) of what happens during meeting for
worship, both individually and corporately.
Perhaps we will generate a reference document that is useful for both
newcomers and oldcomers.
Thank you, Carolyn!
(Rain location: Library)
Bring your own food
7 October (Wednesday) -
Naim Ateek
Sabeel speaker
“Freedom
for the Palestinians, Security for Israel, Reconciliation for all in the
Middle East”
Collegiate United Methodist Church
6:15 potluck
7:15 program in Wesley Hall
As usual, Yearly Meeting of Iowa Conservatives lived up to its billing.
The theme of Quaker Seeds united the various programs and activities.
The Seed was a metaphor used by George Fox and early Quakers as a
synonym for the Inner Light.
The parable of the seeds falling on diverse grounds came up in
various contexts, the morning Bible study and the evening programs.
Tuesday evening was a chance for some of our own Friends to tell us about
their involvement in immigration issues, one married to an immigrant and the
other a social worker at Postville.
On Wednesday evening we heard about deepening the meeting for worship. Two
New England Friends shared their insights. One was able to stay the entire
week and be part of our meeting.
Marshall Massey of the Omaha Meeting who was instrumental in the
beginnings of Friends In Unity with Nature, now the Quaker Earthcare
Witness, gave us the theological underpinnings of the ecology movement.
A Friday night panel gave examples of Friends planting seeds of hope. The
highlights were a presentation by Beth Wilson on the formation of a Peace
Links chapter in northeast Iowa and an explanation by the farm manager, Mark
Quee, of how Scattergood
incorporates its intellectual and social life with the farm program.
The Saturday evening talent show is always a fun end to the week’s
evening programs. A. M., Gordon
and Deborah shared their talents.
But there was more.
Interest groups, chatter under the tree with new and old Friends, sharing
dish washing, and deep meetings for worship are an integral part of the
experience. As usual there many heartfelt messages in the meetings for
worship.
Most Ames Friends were reappointed to standing committees and new
appointments include A. M. to interim committee and Ebby to the FWCC
representatives.
The next gathering of the Yearly Meeting will be the midyear meeting at Bear
Creek on March 27-28. Put it on your calendar. Bill Deutsch will be the
resource person.
A.M.
“DRINK THY COCA-COLA AS LONG AS THEE CAN.”
When William Penn was
learning to be a Quaker, he asked George Fox about the quakerliness of the
sword he wore as a dashing swashbuckler.
Fox’s famous answer was “Wear thy sword as long as thee can.”
Meaning no one can be conscience for another, but don’t neglect
concern. Only you can know when
you are ready to remove your sword.
Our demon is not a sword but the American curse
of excess. Virtually every one
of us struggles with it. We eat
too much. We have too many
clothes. We use too much water.
We buy too many widgets.
We use too much energy. We generate too much waste.
And our personal lives are just the tip of the
iceberg. Our nation is the
epitome of excess, and it might destroy our planet.
There is a long menu of urgent political and
personal actions to take.
Individual leadings will differ.
For October:
Can we work to make Ames more friendly to
pedestrians, bikers and mass transit?
Do we think about where our food comes from?
Do we feel kinship with those who produce, process, transport and
market our food? Are we
thoughtful about what happens to our food after it leaves our bodies?
Do our clothes encumber us unduly?
As we wear our clothes, do we think about the people who produce the
fibers, those who sew them, and those who market them?
Lye, bleach and ammonia are bad for us and for
our environment. Do we use
products containing them as sparingly as possible?
Do we clean green?
Let’s keep sharing our tips, our vehicles and
our ideas – and supporting each other.
Ames Friends Meeting
121 South Maple
Ames, Iowa 50010
515-232-4610
Deborah Fink, Newsletter Editor