As Way Opens
Last Thursday, I took both a needed and long-anticipated day-long spiritual retreat. Because my current schedule does not afford a longer retreat, I knew I would have to make the most of my day. Since nature is an important way for me to connect to the Divine, I anticipated most of my day outside. Yet when I awoke on Thursday, my spirit was a bit dashed as I heard heavy rain hitting the side of our home. Immediately, I knew I would need to be flexible.
Grabbing the essentials; one book, a mask, my rain coat, a hat, and hiking shoes, I was determined to not let the rain deter my day. My first stop would be the walking trails at Minnetrista, a gathering place in Muncie, Indiana, dedicated to the legacy of the Ball family. The hiking trails at Minnetrista wind along the river and allow one to find their own pace.
Where I began there was a big rock just off the path that marked this area as the traditional site of the Wah-Pe-Kah-Me-Kunk, the Muncie clan of the Delaware Indians. I paused to pay respect to those who were removed from this land and center myself as their ancestors did years ago on this very spot. Immediately, I sensed a deeper connection to the nature around me - the trees giving up their brightly colored leaves, the frost tipped roses frozen in time, the deep roar of the river, and the black squirrels gathering nuts for the winter frolicking along my path. I was now ready to receive what the Spirit would reveal to me on this day retreat.
I knew I needed to remove myself from the noise and clutter of daily life and escape to a transcendent place where I could experience the Divine. Interestingly enough, during my entire time at Minnetrista, I only had one other person cross my path, the rain subsided, and I found the silence speaking to my soul. The Still Small Voice I had spoken of in a recent sermon was quietly whispering and asking me to simply breath in and find my peace. As I concluded my hike and arrived back at my car, the rain returned and I sat for a moment listening to it hitting my windshield, feeling as though it was a sign that I was cleansed, for now, of the weight I was carrying.
My afternoon plan was to continue my retreat at Mounds State Park, but the rain did not let up and the ranger at the gate said the paths were saturated. Instead, I headed to a more familiar place, Falls Park in Pendleton. At this point the rain had returned with a vengeance and the wind had picked up. I pulled my car into a parking spot under a tree that faced the fast-moving falls. The tree made a nice canopy over my car allowing me to open the windows and experience the sounds. I sat and read for quite some time as the Falls provided “white noise” to drown out the clatter of the world around me. Usually, I would need my headphones and music to help bring this focus. This day, I found creation itself provided the soundtrack – the rain on my windshield, the crunching of leaves beneath my feet, and the steady roar of the falls all provided beautiful music.
Finally, I needed to find a warmer spot and headed to a coffee shop in Pendleton to warm up with a cup of coffee. Even though I had been concerned that the rain would deter me from experiencing the Divine, I realized as I sipped my coffee that being flexible and willing to embrace the unexpected was the best lesson I could glean for my current condition. A lesson I must be reminded of each and every day during this pandemic and these challenging times.
As I concluded my day-long retreat, I spent time reading from the Gospel of Thomas – a gospel text I have not spent enough time with. These words of Jesus almost jumped off the page and summarized my day’s experience,
“Recognize what is before your eyes, and the mysteries will be revealed to you.”
May we all recognize what is before our eyes this week, so the mysteries of the Divine may be revealed to us!
Grace and peace,
Bob
Joys & Concerns
Thank you to our volunteers who helped First Friends on election day! These volunteers made sure everything went smoothly, and everyone stayed safe! Thank you to Carol & Jim D, Kevin F, Deb & Phil G, Beth H, Bob H, Ed M, Susan R, and Nancy S!
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
TAILGATE PARTY! Hey, Friends, the Connections Team will be hosting a COVID-safe tailgate party in the meeting house parking lot on Saturday, November 7, 4-6 pm. What a good chance to connect with folks from the meeting face to face. Bring your own chair, food and drinks...and masks, please. We will have fire pits for hot dogs and s'mores. The weather forecast looks good for Saturday. Hope you can make it!
Free Green Team Training ~ The singing frog was wrong - it IS easy being green! Hoosier Interfaith Power and Light invites you on November 11th for a fun and informative workshop to find out how to create or expand a green team in your congregation. There will be much work to do in the next four years regardless of the outcome of the elections. All people of faith need to act together now with a sense of urgency. Learn about the faith bases of creation care and the supporting science and messaging. Discuss the typical challenges faced when starting or developing a green team, and ways to turn them into opportunities. It's free and easy to sign up, to find out more and register visit https://hoosieripl.salsalabs.org/greenteamtrainingnovember112020/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=33a22090-85ad-412d-8de1-3705e86998c4
Shhh! (The Garden Sleeps)
Aside from some cold weather crops the Community Garden is bedded down for the season. We all need to sleep so we have energy to begin a rebirth. A garden is no different. For your enjoyment I am employing a philosophical outlook in this issue. Thank you in advance to the poets and writers.
And all at once, summer collapsed into fall. –Oscar Wilde
Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall. –F. Scott Fitzgerald
Autumn Fires
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
--Robert Louis Stevenson
Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop. –Rumi
I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.—Henry David Thoreau
November
There is no wind at all tonight
To dash the drops against the pane;
No sound abroad, nor any light;
And softly falls the autumn rain.
The earth lies tacitly beneath,
As it were dead to joy or pain;
It does not move, it does not breathe;
And softly falls the autumn rain.
And all my heart is patient too.
I wait till it shall wake again;
For songs of spring shall sound anew
Though sadly falls the autumn rain.
--Celia Thaxter
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. –Albert Camus
Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile. –William Cullen Bryant
Delicious autumn!
My very soul is wedded to it,
And if I were a bird
I would fly about the earth,
Seeking the successive autumns.
--George Eliot
Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. –Ralph Waldo Emerson
~Nancy
From Halloween to Happy New Year ~ When you receive cards for the upcoming holidays—Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and birthdays and anniversaries, please cut off the postage stamps with 1/4 inch of envelope around them. If you could arrange for them to be brought to First Friends, that would be wonderful. A box for them will be on the benches just inside the door, the box that used to be in Fellowship Hall. The women in RSWR projects in Kenya, India, and Sierra Leone thank you.
Tired of the news? A great way to travel to other times and places is to trim used postage stamps from excess paper. If you would like an easy (and free!) vacation from it all, contact Amy Perry and she will bring you some trimming to do at home and on your own time. You will also be doing good at the same time, for you will be helping raise money for Right Sharing of World Resources (www.RSWR.org). Contact the office at office@indyfriends.org. And have fun traveling!
To Zoom or Not to Zoom or The Zooming Experience ~ How do you feel about zoom? What are your positive experiences? What are your complaints? Are you kept away by a lack of technology? Do you loathe zoom? Perhaps by examining the nature of your discontent, improvements could be discovered. We invite you to share your thoughts and preferences about meeting via Zoom to office@indyfriends.org. Thank you!
Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us from virtually anywhere in the world as we discuss Why Religion?: A Personal Story by Elaine Pagels. Why is religion still around in the twenty-first century? Why do so many still believe? And how do various traditions still shape the way people experience everything from sexuality to politics, whether they are religious or not? In Why Religion? Elaine Pagels looks to her own life to help address these questions. These questions took on a new urgency for Pagels when dealing with unimaginable loss—the death of her young son, followed a year later by the shocking loss of her husband. Here she interweaves a personal story with the work that she loves, illuminating how, for better and worse, religious traditions have shaped how we understand ourselves; how we relate to one another; and, most importantly, how to get through the most difficult challenges we face. (goodreads) Rhonda C will be leading the discussion via Zoom starting at 7 pm on Tuesday, November 24, 2020.
Contact the office at office@indyfriends.org for the Zoom information.
Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for November
Sandhill Crane – The Wise Traveler
Today would have been a perfect day to listen and look up! An absolutely clear blue sky was overhead, with a cool breeze from the north. What you are listening for is a call, variously described as “ga-roo” or “hah-akkkk” or a bugle trill or a far-off soft bark of a dog. If you hear something, glance up, and what you are looking for is a flock of Sandhill Cranes, with as many as 150 or more individuals flying in and behind a loosely organized V-pattern. They will not be in a tight V like geese, or as fast, but will usually be much higher, almost out-of-sight. You may see one flock directly overhead, and at the same time have more flocks behind and off to one side. In the fall they gather by the tens of thousands at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in NW Indiana, and then, from late October to early December, they leave in large groups heading toward the Texas coast. In groups this large, these huge birds seem to find safety in numbers.
Sandhill Cranes stand three and one-half feet tall, and are mostly gray with red on the crown. Immatures are brown. In flight one can see their outstretched necks, and feet trailing behind their tails. They should not be confused with Great Blue Herons, which nest nearby us, although some call those birds “cranes”.
Several weeks ago as I walked in our woods, I found two Swainson’s Thrushes in the bushes above the waterfall. They were sitting silently, side-by-side, watching my movement. I wondered if these two had come together, all the way from Canada. Perhaps, instead, they met here, in the woods, and recognized each other, like two Ball State grads who just happen to pull in beside each other at a rest area in Arkansas. Either way, their migration is less conspicuous than that of the cranes.
This time of year some of us start preparing our Christmas cards. I like the ones depicting the journey of the Wise Men to visit the Christ Child. Usually in fabulous colors, those cards show three men on three camels traveling alone through the desert. But can that be? Instead of being like the two thrushes, wouldn’t it have been more like the hundreds of sandhill cranes? I believe there were three huge entourages of wise men, their servants, and hirelings, with skills in cooking, defensive safety, and animal herding: travelers all moving through possibly-foreseen dangers, together, trying to reach their destination. ~Brad J
Join us for a Weed Wrangle! Get your frustrations out by joining Mary and Mindy on a Weed Wrangle tomorrow morning, Thursday, November 5 from 10-11:30 am. We’re pulling ivy, euonymus and cutting down some honeysuckle. We’re removing these invasive plants to make room for native plans to enhance local wildlife in the woods. We hope you’ll join us!
Queries for the Week
(From online service)
Am I listening carefully to my Inner Light as it speaks to the condition of my world during this election?
How are my political views limiting or inhibiting me in seeing God’s values and the Spirit’s work in the lives of my neighbors?
As I prepare to vote, will I first take time to pray or meditate before making my decisions?
(From self-led guide)
How might I more fully embrace the teachings and the life of Jesus to love wastefully?
Am I ready to go where Jesus might lead me?
Am I willing to have my lawn furniture turned upside down?