No one will be surprised to learn who reported on what. What was a surprise was the stimulating discussion that came out of a tiny group of four presenters and two discussers. Excited by our own interest, we spent most of the time deciding how to involve lots of other folks.

Susan Clymer drew us into by setting the AVP (Alternatives to Violence Project) mandala of guiding principles right down in the middle of the floor. After noting that prison inmates with Quaker help were the founders of AVP, she impressed us all by telling about its astounding success at decreasing recidivism.

We could have our own AVP training if at least 8 to 10 people are interested. They don’t have to be part of our meeting, and Susan is going to do a little recruiting among like-minded others (good outreach!). A training involves a whole weekend – Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon, but Susan made it sound so interesting and lively that some of us who were doubtful perked up and signed on the dotted line. One doesn’t have to use it to do prison work; learning about anger, conflict and community might just be helpful to any of us. Training could be next January or February – some time when we’re less likely to have other obligations pulling at us. Anyone who is interested and/ or has questions is invited to get in touch with Susan.

Karin McAdams found herself intrigued with Quaker Earthcare Witness at Iowa Yearly Meeting and brought home some pithy and useful pamphlets. One of them was a self- assessment for the Meeting – how eco-Friendly is our meeting space? Figuring that different Friends have different knowledge of Meetinghouse qualities, Karin displayed the checklist in poster form during the break. Sure enough, some people know what’s planted in the yard, and others know if we do or don’t have aerators in our faucets. (We don’t.)

This looks like a long-term project, so the group decided that the poster should go onto the giant post-its beloved of workshop presenters, with brightly colored sticky notes for extended comments, and the whole should be made available to the Meeting for several weeks. So be sure to get your two cents’ worth onto the checklist!

Ginger and Jim Kenney gave us a clear, concise look at what they really do! If you think they travel a lot now, just wait till next year, when they’ll be visiting two monthly meetings a month. We hope they’ll drop in on us from time to time.

Jim and Ginger were intensely involved in the Sabeel Conference, Sabeel being a Palestinian Christian Liberation Theology organization. Speakers presented their varying perspectives on Israel/Palestine. It not only exceeded expectations for attendance; it also may have been just what was needed to stimulate new dialogue on the subject in the local Jewish and Arab communities.

They’ve been traveling for FCNL for several years, saying thankyou to folks who support the cause and also giving workshops. Their most popular workshop is called Beyond War, and perhaps their favorite is on Israel/Palestine, but workshops on Native American issues and on effective lobbying are in their repertoire as well.

The Community of Christ (formerly RLDS) has been enthusiastically presenting itself as a peace church (together with Quakers, Brethren and Mennonites), and now Jim and Ginger have been a part of discussions leading to their considering FCNL as their lobbying group. This opens up new possibility for collaborations and communication. In the works as well is a connection with the peacemaking arm of the National Presbyterian Church.

The best thing you can do to encourage the Kenneys in their FCNL work is ask them questions and beg for a copy of the latest FCNL newsletter!

February 12, 2006

Today's program was highly informative, as many of you know. The presenter was John Carney, of the Center for Practical Bioethics. I'm not going to summarize it all, but an important piece was that their web site has a two-page document that you can download in a PDF format and use. On one side it has a healthcare directive or "health proxy," with a space for your wishes regarding health care in a possibly terminal situation. On the other you can designate a person (or persons in priority order) whom you trust to speak for you on your wishes. He emphasized that this second part is critical; given the changing state of medical technology and the unpredictability of situations, there's no way we can foresee all the contingencies.

He said that the above forms are currently being revised, and that in a couple of weeks the up to date version should be available. He also mentioned a downloadable pamphlet that sounded excellent - it has suggestions for starting a deliberate conversation with chosen people about our needs, wants and wishes.

There is an option for a more in-depth two-hour workshop that will focus less on the legal issues and more on how to converse with our loved ones on this tricky subject. He hopes that if we opt for it, we will also have the services of Sister Rosemary, who is apparently a witty and wise advisor on this topic.

The meeting was convened by Echo, newly appointed Coordinator of Peace and Social Concerns. It started with urgent requests from representatives to organizations and then was opened to concerns of anyone present.

From AFSC (Marianne and Echo, representatives):

On March 19, AFSC is conducting a major vigil to mark the third year of war in Iraq. They are seeking sponsorship and volunteers as well as financial help. They hope to have 2400 volunteers, each holding the picture of a military person killed in Iraq. In addition, there will be a memorial to Iraqi civilians killed in the war.

Friends decided that it would be highly appropriate for the meeting to be an official sponsor for the event. It was pointed out that merely noting the deaths of military persons in no way expresses the damage done by the war, but it was still felt to be a fitting tribute and protest. Friends also had the opportunity to sign up for volunteering and to donate to this event. These opportunities will be available up until the time of the event.

AFSC is also having a Valentine’s Day party/fundraiser on February 11. There will be more details in the newsletter.

FCNL: We need to decide what priorities FCNL should have for the coming two years. We are seeking program time for this discussion. FCNL is also encouraging every meeting to send people to discuss with their representatives to Congress the next year’s FCNL major issues. There was some interest in doing this.

Ginger and Jim Kenney: They will be starting their yearly meeting sojourns on behalf of FCNL in April. Friends would like to know then these are happening and also would like to arrange an evening when we can talk with the Kenney’s about what they do and offer them support.

Rachel MacNair: She presented copies of her new brochure on her books and also offered to continue leading letter-writing activities when issues come up that seem to call for this kind of action.

Susan Clymer: Susan is now a facilitator for the Alternative to Violence Project and is interested in finding out what her next direction will be. She may want to participate in Friends Peace Teams, which current work in Africa and Colombia, and she is interested in helping make our meeting a peace center, if Friends feel so led.

She suggested the possibility of having an AVP training at the meetinghouse. We would need at least 12 people and a whole weekend; all participants need not be active in the meeting.

Leesa Whitson: a reminder to click daily on the Hunger Site and the related sites where for free one can make possible a donation of food, mammograms, books and other necessary items. She noted that families can do a lot, and that they like doing their holiday shopping from organizations that do good as well.

Karin McAdams: She invites Friends to form a group to pull garlic mustard, an invasive plant, in late April or early May. The Wildlands project sponsors this activity. Gary noted that they also have a cedar cut in December, thus providing politically correct Christmas trees.

Nancy Moon: Someday she would like to present a program (possibly a fifth Sunday program) on “shadow work as peace work.” This would help us look at our motivations and personal issues in doing activist work.

Jim and Ginger Kenney: Currently they are deeply involved in case of the young persons who were inappropriately raided by the KCK police during a birthday party. Jim sees this case as becoming ever more complex, but he expressed hope that long-term change will come from it. The emotional support being offered by the community can be very valuable. They will inform us if we can help.

Each of us can help in our own way, as in the story of the starfish. We want to avoid the need for perfection, to avoid “making the perfect the enemy of the good.”

November 27, 2005

It was Shane’s vision — of harps and angels, mannequins and Santa hats — that sparked the discussion of “Quakers and the Holidays” on Nov. 27. And after an hour of focused dialogue, we were left with quite another vision — that of a laughing Jesus.

As part of the Quaker education program on that First Day, Shane shared his impressions of passing a harpist in Crown Center a few days earlier. The harpist played beautifully, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” while seated rather incongruously in front of Victoria’s Secret with its display windows full of supermodeled mannequins wearing Santa hats and little else.

What exactly are we celebrating at Christmas? What is the Quaker response to such marketplace sights? How did the celebration of Christmas get to where it is today? What is important to each of us? The discussion turned on all of these points.

According to the biblical story, a point made by Ginger and Marc, with its references to the spring lambing season, it would have been impossible for Jesus to be born on Dec. 25. The date, most agreed, was set during the era of cultural colonialism of the early church, when Christian leaders twinned their holidays with the traditional feasts of other people in an effort to assimilate those people. From the start, the holiday agenda included more than marking the birth of Jesus.

The melding of traditions is not a bad thing, Rachel said. We are all gathered to celebrate together, and whether or not our beliefs are the same is not important; the togetherness of our multi-religious traditions is important. The togetherness promotes community, reminding us of our shared space and time, and perhaps destiny.

The Bethlehem story is rich with analogy and metaphor. But it is the gift-giving aspect, the lesson of the magi, that has caused the most consternation, leading as it has to the capitalist usurpation of the holiday.

So is there a proper way to observe Christmas without submitting to the commercialism, to follow the example of the early Quakers, who eschewed ritual? Does that mean we do not “celebrate” this holiday?

The sense of the gathering was that not only was it OK to celebrate, it could be perceived that Jesus would have wanted us to. Ginger, conjuring the image of the laughing Jesus, said, “Without celebrations, we Quakers can become very dour. My view of Christ is that he loved a party.”

“Yes, Jesus, the wine maker,” Jim added. These designated days, which we call holidays, give us a reason to gather. In and of itself, that is good.

We all have our own ways to celebrate. They’ve become our traditions. Some of us set up Nativity scenes. Some phone friends around the country. Some attend churches to experience the “smoke and bells” of those traditions, all memories, nostalgia, and sensual feasts to help us transcend. Some of us dress our homes with garland and greens.

As Bill Kellison said, our traditions are many; we should take what we want and leave the rest. Listen to the harp, in other words, and avert the eyes, if it offends.

How we each mark the holidays is an individual thing, but one that takes place within community. And the important thing is not the trappings of the holiday, but the spirit behind, beneath and beyond our traditions.

— Gary Marx

March 13, 2005