As Way Opens
We welcomed several individuals from Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) this past Sunday - Lotan and Samson from Kenya and Sara Northrop who administers all of the grants for the organization. It was a wonderful day of discussion of the transforming work of RSWR in Kenya as well as in India and Sierra Leone. Samson delivered a powerful message of sharing out of our abundance and the ripple effect of giving during Meeting for Worship. We gathered in fellowship hall for a simple meal of soup, salad, bread and fruit and raised $384 in contributions from the meal and the sale of fair-trade chocolate and coffee. Thank you for your continued generosity and support of this effective and impactful organization.
I am in my 7th and final year of board service at RSWR and next April will be my last board meeting. Serving this organization has been important to me especially during the last few years of my husband Jerry’s life (he passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2016). Anyone who has lived through a degenerative disease of a spouse or loved one knows how small one’s world can become in caring for the needs of their loved one. The world can get down to basic needs, limited conversations and guidance and support in all aspects of life. Every time I was able to attend a RSWR board meeting I felt my world opened up a bit and that I could have a small impact on something big - impacting women around the world. It gave me hope, joy and gratitude to contribute in a very small way to this work.
I hope we can all find places where we can expand our reach beyond our immediate community and touch others beyond our small circle. Discussions like the one occurring this Sunday on the possibility of alternatives to payday lending or how we can participate in encouraging Indiana lawmakers to set up fair and impartial methods to determine voting districts are examples of how we can participate in the ripple of connection and impact for bettering our world and living out the gospel of Jesus.
Beth
Joys & Concerns
Maple Seeds Preschool Coop (MSPC) held their annual Fall Fest this past Saturday and it was a great time! We had a wonderful turn out even with the rain. Firemen brought their truck for ‘touch a truck’ and it was definitely a highlight! They handed out fire hats to the kids. What a fun day!
Quaker-Related Organizations
IFCL Meeting this Saturday, Nov. 2 ~ Any and all are invited to the Indiana Friends Committee on Legislation (IFCL) meeting in the parlor this Saturday, Nov. 2, from 9-11:00 a.m. when we will discuss priorities for the 2020 Indiana General Assembly.
This summer and autumn, IFCL has had opportunities to research and interact with others to learn more about some specific issues: redistricting reform initiatives, lending options for financially challenged Hoosiers, education assessment and funding, environmental/health concerns, and expansion of 5G technology. All will be on the agenda this Saturday, plus others you may want to suggest at the meeting.
We are encouraged by other groups that ask IFCL to be members of coalitions, and by legislators who are willing to listen to our concerns. In case you missed the recent news linked below, check out the initiative of Indiana Senator Mike Braun to reach across the aisle to work with Senator Chris Coons (D-Delaware) for the Senate's first-ever bipartisan caucus dedicated to climate solutions.
We will try to show the Channel 6 video (linked below) at our meeting this Saturday, but if you cannot attend, this provides important information about the 5G expansion issue.
Please contact Phil Goodchild (goodch713@aol.com) or Ed Morris (emorri@earthlink.net) with any questions. Thank you for your support helping IFCL help Hoosiers.
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
Daylight Savings Time ends at 2am this Sunday, so don’t forget to set your clocks back an hour before you go to bed, or you may show up to church an hour early on Sunday!
Did you know we have a special place available for parents with young children to worship with us? If you have a baby, you are welcome to use our specially-equipped balcony room. Head up either staircase in the foyer and enter the door to find a rocking chair and a diaper changing station. With the door open you can hear everything from the Meeting room. This space is open and available to all parents and families, as they wish to use it.
Serenity Now, Book-Based Support Group!
Next Meeting: The second meeting of the newly formed First Friends book-based support group will be at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31, in the meetinghouse parlor. Coffee and bagels will be provided. This confidential group of five participants (so far) is for those experiencing family and relationship challenges. Our first book selection is The Mastery of Love, a Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship by Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements. This meeting, we will discuss the intro and first chapter of this small and easy-to-read book. If you would like to try out the group and need a copy of the reading, please email janicehise@yahoo.com. Feel free to call or text Jan at 317-443-6458 if you have questions. We expect to publish a schedule for the rest of 2019 after this meeting.
More About the Group: Subsequent books may focus on particular types of relationship challenges, interpersonal skills or barriers to healthy functioning (according to the needs of participants). It is expected that members may float in and out of the group based on the focus of the books chosen. Group members seek to support one another through reading, sharing our experiences and self-awareness, and listening without judgement as we navigate challenging situations. Please note: This group is a self-help group, NOT a therapy group, and is NOT facilitated by a licensed therapist. We have chosen the group name, Serenity Now, as a reminder to seek—moment by moment—release from our futile attempts to change what is not ours to change, the courage to change what we legitimately must, the wisdom to know the difference, and the humor to laugh at ourselves when we inevitably blunder.
Eco-Film: Reinventing Indy Power ~ You’re cordially invited to November’s Eco-Film themed, Reinventing Indy Power. Please bring your favorite foods and learn more about the Beyond Coal to Clean Energy Campaign here in Indiana. It will be held on Friday, November 1 from 7-9pm at Cross and Crown Lutheran Church, 5233 E 79th St. (Please notice this Eco-Film is on the first Friday in November.) Just recently, USA Today and the Weather Channel featured Indianapolis Power and Light’s (IPL) Petersburg coal plant, where some of our electricity is generated, as one of the nation’s 22 “Super Polluters”. Super Polluters are the worst toxic and climate polluters in the nation. The IPL Petersburg coal plant is one of four super polluters located near Evansville, IN. The Petersburg coal plant is contributing to climate change, and premature death for residents near the plant. In 2019, Indianapolis Power and Light will create an energy plan for the next 20 years. Community discussion will follow the film. Snacks are provided! This is our chance to have a say in how our utility generates electricity for our community. Together, we can make a difference for our communities’ future. We hope you will join us.
LeeAnn’s drawing of the Hope Garden
Join us for a Harvest Pitch-In! All are invited after Meeting for Worship on Sunday, November 3rd to participate in a harvest pitch-in. This event is being put on by the Community Garden committee as a harvest celebration after a season of hard work. It will be held after Meeting for Worship in Fellowship Hall—although if the weather is nice we may have a picnic outside. We are asking everyone to share a dish: Last names A-L bring sides & salads; M-Z bring desserts.
PREDATORY LENDING: NOT THE QUAKER WAY? On Sunday, November 3, you are invited to gather in the parlor after Meeting for Worship to become familiar with the Indiana laws governing short-term "payday" loans and their implications for borrowers.
Suppose that your full-time minimum-wage job allows you to pay rent on your apartment and feed your children--but just barely. An attack of appendicitis keeps you from work for nearly two weeks, and rent is due. You can borrow the money rather quickly and easily, but at usurious interest rates. How can you pay it back? And what if you cannot pay it back?
The purpose of the meeting on Nov. 3 is to open an inquiry:
Have any other organization or faith communities served the unbanked by creating alternatives to predatory payday loans?
If so, might we participate with them in this work?
If not, might we create one ourselves?
What might we as Friends do to help alleviate the plight of our disadvantaged brothers and sisters?
Please join us in the parlor, immediately following Meeting for Worship. A light lunch will be provided. If you have questions, please contact Barbara O or Phil G.
West Central Area Meeting Program and Dinner- You’re invited! All Friends are cordially invited to join us for the West Central Area Meeting program and dinner on Sunday November 3 at Valley Mills Friends. There will be a short business meeting, which should conclude by 3:30 PM or so, and the area meeting will follow. Craig Overmeyer will present a program on 'productive conflict.' He's an Indiana consultant and author with Quaker roots. His new book on this topic will be out in December. At 5:00 PM there will be a pitch-in dinner. For more information see the flyer here: http://bit.ly/31SwmAL. Please consider attending!
Greetings to all the women of our meeting! Please join us in the parlor on November 10th for a meal to further discuss the Enneagram test that we found out about during the Women's retreat a couple of weeks ago. We would like to discuss how it affected you and what we want to do from now on to sustain this group. If you would like some more information or would like to take the test for free, please go to Enneagram Tests: https://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/test. During this meeting, we will also discuss reviving the Women at the Well but in a different way. We are going to meet right after worship so please RSVP to office so we can plan on the correct amount of food - office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485.
Meditational Woods Bird-of-the-Month for October
Pileated Woodpecker: The Infrequent Attender
In Quakerism we have attenders, both frequent attenders and those who are more infrequent. Similarly, in the bird world of the Meditational Woods, there are “infrequent attenders.” Today’s bird is one that is always in the area, but only visits once in a while.
Usually the bird announces its presence with a raucous “kek-kek-kek” call, especially while in flight. Twice in recent months, including early October, a pileated woodpecker flew to a telephone pole just east of the parking lot. The crow-sized bird landed at the top of the pole in such a way as to allow him to look over it, and in all directions. For a full twenty minutes he remained immobile and vigilant. For what was he looking? Was he watching me, or looking for another woodpecker? Perhaps food? Pileateds frequent tree stumps, searching for large ants to eat. They nest in woodlands or in neighborhoods with large trees.
Notice that I refer to this individual as “he.” In both cases of recent telephone pole sitting, the bird was a male. The red mark from the base of the bill across the cheek indicates that this is, indeed, a male. If it were a female, that mark would be black.
As with our other, human, infrequent attenders, I hope the Pileated Woodpecker is welcome at First Friends anytime!! ~Brad J
Jeff Rasley has a new book! Jeff Rasley has just released a new book titled You Have to Get Lost Before You Can Be Found: A Memoir of Suffering, Grit, and Love of the Himalayas and Basa Village. It's about changing direction in life after finding new meaning in middle age working with a remote village in the Nepal Himalayas. It's also an adventure travelogue through the Himalayan region of Southeast Asia. First Friends' involvement in helping to establish the Basa Village Foundation is part of the story. There are more pictures in the e-book, and they are all color photos. You can find the book on amazon at https://www.amazon.com/You-Have-Lost-Before-Found/dp/1696951860. Fore more information visit www.jeffreyrasley.com.
Reclaiming Our Democracy: One Dinner Table at a Time ~ The Indianapolis Peace & Justice Center invites you to come play politics! The Center is designing a game aimed at giving us a conversational, problem-solving “booster shot.” Conversation is a skill that involves more than just speaking. It requires meaningful and intentional listening. We need to practice it more often if we are to move beyond the tribalistic bunker-mentalities that threaten to overwhelm us. Based on conversations around a family dinner table, each participant will play a role as we tackle some of the thorny issues we face moving into this critical election year. It will be held on Wednesday, November 13th, 7:00-8:30 pm in the dining room at the Indiana Interchurch Center, 1100 W. 42nd St. There is ample off-street parking. Like all Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center events, this is free and open to all. But since we need to prepare materials, we ask that you RSVP: 317-288-0408 or 2.john.clark@gmail.com.