As Way Opens
I went on an individual spiritual retreat at Fatima Retreat Center for a few days last week. It was a glorious couple of days. The weather was perfect and the trees at Fatima were in splendid color (if you haven’t been to Fatima and seen their grounds and trails it is something everyone should do). I knew I needed this time to slow down, spend time reading (I finished Richard Rohr’s book The Universal Christ) walk the labyrinth, engage in prayer and meditation and listen for what Christ was saying to me. When I got there on Thursday, I walked the trail but did so slowly to observe and see things I normally miss. I will never forget our women’s retreat many years ago at Fatima where Norma Wallman took us on a wildflower walk. I saw so many flowers that spring that I had walked on past without ever noticing. Last week I noticed so many things on the trail. While examining a fall flower I heard something in front of me and there face to face with me were two huge deer. I think we both scared each other to death. But then I thought, isn’t that life. We just don’t know what is ahead of us and we can all act in fear of each other.
God had a lot of things to say to me on this retreat. I have been spending far too much time on my tv, my phone, my computer and not moving around enough (so much time on zoom sitting in my office chair). I need to spend more time in meditation and prayer each day. I need to move my body more. And I need to be focused less on doing and more on being.
The Universal Christ book spoke to me in a lot of ways. I have been losing sight of the idea that I am meeting Christ in every person; those I love, those I disdain, those that I make judgements about, those that look undesirable. Each person that I see I am seeing Christ. It really gives a different perspective to my feelings and judgments when I think this way.
I love this picture of the tree that has a broken limb. That broken limb seems to be hanging by a thread. But this broken limb has not stopped the tree from being a magnificent spread of color that I wake up to every morning and fills my room with reflections of orange and red.
I pray we may all adjust our vision to see the small things that we miss in our hurriedness and this mystery of Christ in all, even those things that are broken.
Beth
Quaker-Affiliated Organizations
We are coming near the end of our fundraising efforts for the WYM and FUM 2020 fundraisers but have had very few contributions. Please give these causes your prayerful thought and, if you are so led, make your contribution this week to assist our brethren in Belize and Turkana, Kenya. Thank you for your consideration.
WYM and FUM 2020 Mission Projects: Each year Western Yearly Meeting (“WYM”) and Friends United Meeting (“FUM”) designate mission projects for us to consider and help. WYM is a Quaker organization of which First Friends is a member and consists of approximately 32 monthly meetings located in Indiana and Illinois. FUM is a Quaker international organization based in Richmond, Indiana and consists of a number of yearly meetings around the world. These mission projects are the primary way that folks at First Friends can assist Quakers in parts of the world that can use our help.
The WYM project for 2020 is for the benefit of the Belize Friends School. The school needs financial assistance for its operating expenses and the WYM goal is to raise $15,000. You might recall that in 2017 WYM also designated Belize as its project but monies raised at that time were designated for re-locating the school and expanded ministries including community services and the starting of a Friends meeting. Many of you knew Dale Graves, a member of Mooresville’s West Newton Friends, who poured his heart and soul into the Belize school and surrounding area and was the driving force that enabled the Belize school and Friends meeting to become what it is today. While Dale is no longer with us, there is no doubt that Dale would be very proud of the ongoing efforts to improve the Belize school and Belize Friends meeting.
The FUM project is to assist the Friends in Turkana who are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Turkana Friends Mission. Turkana Friends was founded in 1970 in Kalokol, Kenya. It began as a project of East Africa Yearly Meeting and FUM. Turkana Friends Mission has grown from one location to a vibrant multi-site Quaker community that, among other things, oversees six nursery schools and six primary schools. The number of meetings in Turkana Friends Mission has increased dramatically in the past few decades from seven village meetings in 2002 to twenty-five meetings in 2019.
We at First Friends Indianapolis seem far removed from our fellow Quakers around the world and FUM and WYM are organizations that help connect us through worthy projects each year. Please help these Quakers in Belize and Turkana as you are led. Checks should be made to First Friends with a notation as to whether the monies should go to (WYM) Belize, (FUM) Turkana, or split between these projects. Thank you.
Joys & Concerns
Thank You So Much! To our Mid-North Food Pantry volunteers, we THANK YOU for continuing to offer support to those in need during these trying times! A great group of First Friends volunteers showed up to help at the food pantry last Wednesday: Christie M; Linda and Rik L; Kathy and Bill F; Phil G; David B; Terry T; Tony M; Melanie, Virginia and Derek S; and Carol and Jim D. We kept busy serving 87 families.
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
Do you have a car to sell? A refugee family with legal documentation needs to buy a reliable, low-cost used car. Prefer four-door, well-maintained vehicle needing no major repairs, but will consider all options. Hard-working, goal directed single mom is in a bind because IPS has a one-location rule and won't drop off her kids at the daycare provided by her employer after school. Please spread the word to your family and friends and forward all possibilities to the office at office@indyfriends.org. Thank you so much.
The Mid North Food Pantry is in need of help on Mondays. There are 2 shifts: (1) 8:30 am – 10:30 am to prepare bags of food to be distributed, and (2) 10 am –noon to hand out food to families (this is the same function that First Friends volunteers perform every first and third Weds. of the month). In addition, Mid North is looking for someone who would like to work part time at the pantry to replace a current employee who is to undergo medical treatment. If you are interested in any of these opportunities or need further information, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org
Help out First Friends this election! As you may know, First Friends will be a polling location this upcoming election, November 3rd. We are looking for volunteers to help us in the meetinghouse that day. If you are able to help, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485.
The First Friends Women's Book Club is discussing Richard Rohr's, The Universal Christ and still welcoming new members. The group meets at 6:30 p.m. semi-monthly on Wednesdays or Thursdays, depending on the members' work schedules. Upcoming meetings via Zoom on the following dates:
• Wednesday 10/14
• Thursday 10/29
• Wednesday 11/11
• No meeting during Thanksgiving week.
• Wednesday 12/2
Please RSVP to the office at office@indyfriends.org and you will be sent a Zoom link. Regular and sporadic attenders are welcome.
Circle of Care needs more volunteers! The Circle of Care ministry is such an important way to love and care for each other as a faith community. The volunteer network is made up of folks that can occasionally give a ride to a doctor’s appointment, help with technology, rake leaves or other support services that might arise for a person. It works like this: The Circle of Care receives the request and sends it out to the network of volunteers. If someone is available they will respond to the Circle of Care coordinator and the connection will be made for with the person asking for assistance. Could we add your email to this list? Please let the office know if you would be willing to join this important ministry—office@indyfriends.org.
All are invited to Sugar Grove Meetinghouse in Plainfield for Unprogrammed Meeting for Worship on Sunday, October 18 at 2 PM. At a ZOOM Conversation last week on Sugar Grove (Conservative) Meetinghouse, the hope was expressed by several participants that this meetinghouse be used more frequently, particularly for worship. A handful of Friends have received HEARTY approval from the WYM Property Trustees to have an unprogrammed (in the manner of Conservative Friends) Meeting for Worship at Sugar Grove Meetinghouse on Sunday, October 18 at 2 PM. All Friends are welcome.
Please note the following if you plan to attend:
1) There are NO functioning restroom facilities or utilities at Sugar Grove Meetinghouse.
2) Please heed this friendly reminder to enter the Meeting for Worship in silence.
3) Friends need to plan to wear masks and physically distance at least six feet away from your non-household members.
4) You may want to bring a seat cushion and wear an extra layer of clothing.
The meetinghouse is located North of the roundabout at Hadley Rd (E CR 600 S) and Sugar Grove Rd. We hope you will join us.
How to Vote Green! This recent email blast from the Carmel Green Initiative (www.carmelgreen.org) is filled with useful information—from how to “Vote Green” to tips on planting trees! View the email blast here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-DZnJe2APF2lkqul4okSzvGbpzH6_0CX/view?usp=sharing
Woods Update: On Sunday afternoon, a group of volunteers met to continue restoration work in the Woods. In the spring, we had Cardno, an ecological restoration company, treat large areas of the woods for two significant invasive plants, euonymus and amur honeysuckle. https://indiananativeplants.org/invasive-plants/. These invasives create dense shade and groundcover over the forest floor crowding out native plants that feed our native birds and insects. Cardno prepared a seed mix for our Woods that has a combination of sedges, grasses and forbs (flowering wildflowers) that thrive in the understory.
The team cleared out newly fallen leaves and remnants of euonymus patches (some vigorous pulling was required and filled 3 large garbage bags) and then sowed two areas with this specialized mix. Native plants need certain conditions to germinate. Many require freeze and thaw to allow them to emerge in the spring. The areas are marked off with caution tape to protect the planting.
Our team included the Mighty Mindy S, Amy P, Brad J, Deb G, Phil G, Terry T, Dan M, Dave B and Mary B. Trustee Phil got an inside look for some of the work required to maintain an urban wood lot. Brad used his trusty weedwhacker to tame uninvited weeds and Terry continues her artistic endeavor of a blue palette of natives near the dry bridge.
We hope to continue to clear areas and restore more of the native landscape. If you’d like to lend a hand, contact the office at office@indyfriends.org.
Men’s Threshing Together ~ If you are interested in gathering with other men who mull over current issues or topics, where all points of view are heard, no decisions are made, and all in a non-threatening atmosphere over a meal, then Threshing Together is for you! Our next meeting will be held in-person on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00pm. See current locations here: http://bit.ly/ThreshingFall2020.
Don't you miss the First Friends Friday Night Sing-Along? Jim and Jesse are putting the final touches on a video which will premiere Friday, October 23, 7pm. More details to come. We'll have the link for you in next week's Friend to Friend.
A New Issue of the Stamping Newsletter Is Available! The Right Sharing of World Resources Stamping team here at First Friends has released a new issue of their newsletter, Stamping for Dollars. To view the newsletter, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-BuYdNjGQBJrETOYFC782SiScyQ5LJvS/view?usp=sharing
Right-Sharing of World Resources Sponsored Project Update - Keyo Friends Women Group ~ First Friends sponsored a RSWR project in Kenya in honor of Ann Panah. Here is a story about one of the beneficiaries of the RSWR grant to the Keyo Friends Women Group.
Name: Phanice Kenyorwa
Age: 69 years
Group: Keyo Friends Women Group
Status: Married, with 8 children, 4 of them are still at home. She is also helping to raise 6 grandchildren. Phanice has a husband who is older and cannot work. He used to work as a butcher, but he became diabetic and can’t work anymore.
Phanice ventured into goat rearing and selling with her RSWR loan because there is high demand for goat meat at the butchery where her husband once worked, so she has a ready market for the goats. In addition, she does some farming, growing and selling indigenous vegetables. She is helped in her business by her children who graze the goats for her. Besides feeding the many members of her family, the business has helped Phanice to renovate their house which was leaking.
Harvest Festival! All Meeting Invitation for a “3-D Celebration” Outside! ~ The Community Garden is having a work day/play day celebration of the harvest on Sunday, October 25 at 11:30 a.m. We will have live music, courtesy of Jim Kartholl and Jesse Snyder-Ehrich. We will be together in-person outdoors, socially-distanced. Each person should bring a mask to wear to protect others when not socially-distanced and to protect Friends from unintended sneezes and coughs that cause droplets and aerosols to travel further than six feet. We will gather in the garden area north of the Meetinghouse.
We are all taxed to the limit by the Covid crisis and the idea of the Festival is to be together safely. Bring: mask, bagged food and service for yourself, a chair, and garden tools if you plan to help close down the garden for the season. Some extra chairs will be provided for those who cannot readily supply their own. You are not required to help in the garden and your presence will bless us whether you join in the work or just relax.
Rain date is Sunday, November 1 at 11:30. Daylight saving time ends and we will fall back an hour so be aware of the change.
Come and join us so we can thrive and enjoy one another beyond the world of Zoom.
~ Sam and Nancy
Attention women of First Friends! We will be offering a virtual 4-part workshop on spiritual gifts starting Sunday November 1st from 5:00 - 6:30. The workshop will continue for the next three Sundays after that ending on November 22nd. Zoom Space is limited so please contact the office if you would like to sign up.
We will explore the gift economy of the Body of Christ and why it matters for us to gain understanding of it. We will also examine specific spiritual gifts and how they work together in a community.
Session 1 (Nov 1st) will examine the two realities we all inhabit: the Body of Christ and the world or the Kingdom (Kin-dom) of God and empire. We’ll be learning to look for Kingdom of Heaven already within and among us.
Session 2 (Nov 8th) explores the nature of a gifts economy, our God-created diversity, and celebrates our strengths as well as our weaknesses, which are important to embrace.
Session 3 l(Nov 15th) looks at ways honoring gifts and stepping into a gifts economy makes us the right size and shape for who we were created to be and for making communities run smoothly.
Session 4 (Nov 22nd) asks how we might apply these concepts in our daily lives.
Our Facilitator is Sara Beth Terrell, a recorded Friends minister with a ministry of spiritual formation. She is a spiritual director, speaker, writer, and workshop and retreat leader. Sara Beth has been a Friends pastor and campus minister. She is married with two adult children and is a member of First Friends Meeting in Greensboro, NC. She can be found at www.imaginingtheword.com.
Participate in our "Sponsor a College Student" project! Just select a college student and send them notes, cards, treats, etc throughout the school year so they hear from someone at the Meeting and feel connected. Our college students this year are Ellie A, Ally H, Sam H, Eli S, Chelsea T, and Kendal T. If you’d like to participate, please email the office at office@indyfriends.org, and we’ll give you the mailing address of a student so you can send your support. Please consider connecting with our students this year!
Recycling Event! The Shalom Zone plans to have its yearly recycling event with Recycle Force on Saturday, October 31 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. If an item runs (or used to run) with a plug or a battery you can recycle it! This year it will be held at Epworth United Methodist Church, 6450 Allisonville Rd. A $20 donation is required for televisions and appliances containing Freon (fridges, freezers, ac units and dehumidifiers). Other monetary contributions are greatly appreciated. This is a great opportunity to clean out your basement, garage, closets, attic and responsibly recycle unwanted electronics and appliances. If you have items that are heavy and you need assistance to move them, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org and we can arrange to have the items picked up. For more information, view the flyer here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w6uaIgilMNlIk8Hw9URMPgNHcNE8_1BE/view?usp=sharing
Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for October:
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – Sharing the Table
Recently Naomi and I have started thinking about the possibility of celebrating Thanksgiving this year with our normal gatherings of family and friends in which we “share the table.” It may look much different!
Of the seven species of woodpeckers that appear in Indiana each year, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is the one true migrant. Nesting up north in Michigan and Canada, this bird passes through the Meditational Woods on its way southward. Unlike most other migrant bird species, the southern journey may end right here. Central Indiana is the northern edge of its wintering grounds, and so the bird can be expected in September and October, and again in March and April heading northward, BUT could be in our woods all winter long!
The unusual name comes from the bird’s habit of drilling parallel rows of holes in sap-bearing trees in order to drink. The sapsucker may extend the holes to form large patches in which the sugar water pools attract a myriad of “guests”: ants, beetles, butterflies, and even hummingbirds. During our first months of marriage, my wife and I worked at a camp in Connecticut, and I got to watch this feasting unfold at a black cherry tree. Each day, hummingbirds would come and insert their bills into the holes for the sweet liquid. By the way, both sapsuckers and hummingbirds will eat the ants and beetles that dally too long at the table. It is not likely that we will see this feeding behavior in our woods here at First Friends, as it is confined mostly to the nesting grounds.
Yellow-bellieds can always be recognized by the large white vertical wing bar. The genders are identical except for the red throat in the males, which is white in females. Immatures lack much of the red and black, but still have the white patch on the wing, and are much more spotted with grayish brown.
I have seen Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers here at our woods in late March, mid-October, and early December. ~Brad J
What Will You be Doing on Election Day? ~ One of the many challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic in an election year is that elections officials foresee a shortage of poll workers. Typically, the majority of poll workers are over the age of 61, and over a quarter of them are over 70. Because they are the most susceptible to the virus, many of these seniors have indicated they will not work the polls this November.
Where does that leave us on Election Day?
One solution is for younger Americans to step up.
Did you know that in Indiana, high school students as young as 16-18 can serve as poll workers? And that Indiana law treats this service as an excused absence from school? Requirements vary depending on what county you live in, but the non-partisan WorkElections project has gathered all the information you need to apply, wherever you live (https://www.workelections.com/). For all ages, if you want to be a poll worker, some training is required and (unless you're in high school) you must be a registered voter in your county of residence to work at one of its polling places. See the WorkElections website for specific county-by-county requirements.
At a pivotal moment in American history, when many of our most pressing problems can seem insurmountable and it's hard to know just how to help, you can act. You can enable others to perform one of the most sacred of civic duties: voting on Election Day. By serving as a poll worker, you will be doing something non-partisan, a matter of civics, not politics. And in the 2020 Elections, you can claim to have helped your neighbor--and defended democracy.
For more information, see or share a flyer here: https://bit.ly/2PCBUvs
Small Group Meetings. If you are part of a small group that would like to meet at First Friends – or are interested in joining a group – please let us know. First Friends has opened the building to small group meetings. All gatherings are limited to 10 and participants will be required to wear face coverings and follow other social distancing protocols. Many small groups who choose to meet in person will also meet via Zoom so people can still attend virtually if they prefer—ask your small group leader how they will be meeting. If you are interested in joining any of the below groups, please notify the office at: office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485.
Our current available meetings:
· Unprogrammed worship - Mondays at 11:15am
· Unprogrammed worship - Wednesdays at 6:45pm
· Unprogrammed worship - Sundays at 9:00am
· Men’s book group (John Woolman’s Journal)
· Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading
· Men’s book club
· Serenity Now
· Women’s book club
· Men’s Threshing Together
· Seeking Friends book class
· Kids Pre-k through 1st grade Sunday School class
· 2nd - 5th grade Sunday School class
· Youth Group
Queries for the Week
(From online service)
1. Where instead of embracing love, have I let go of love during these difficult days?
2. Am I feeling lonely and not deeply connected to myself, my relationships, and my community? How might I seek deeper connections?
3. When this week will I take time to explore and observe the Love Christ has for me, and transform it into love for my neighbors?
(From self-led guide)
1. During these difficult times am I practicing stress or peace more regularly? What can I do to focus more on peace?
2. How is the stress of the world draining my spirit, distracting my mind, and preventing me from focusing on what is important? What might I need to begin doing this week, to help me be less stressed?
3. How can I apply 1 John 2:17 to my life this week? (Consider reading each day this week from a different translation).