As Way Opens
It has been kind of amazing to me to see how we all are adapting to the significant and rapid changes in our lives. We are figuring out ways to hold worship services, committee meetings, social gatherings, graduations etc. While I know we desperately miss the physical contact of being with friends and families, we are figuring out ways to stay connected. Last Friday Earlham School of Religion held a baccalaureate service for seminary graduates through zoom. I was skeptical that this would work well and was surprised by how meaningful the service was. We had a women’s gathering two weeks ago that Nancy Scott planned with poetry, interpretative dance, and creation of our own poems. I wasn’t sure this could work on Zoom, but it was also a very meaningful and rich time of connection and creativity. Every Sunday morning at 10:15 I am watching our virtual worship service and feel connected to all of you and have been moved by the words and the music. Our Meetings for Business on Zoom have been productive and efficient. Sitting outside on patios and backyards has been sweet and fun.
Human beings have a great ability to adapt. We have been adapting to our environment since the dawn of time. While change is scary and hard, it is our ability to change that keeps us alive. I know that our lives will never go back to the way they were before this crisis. But I believe that we have an opportunity to live more deeply our Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship of the environment in our changing world. And these testimonies have never been more needed in this time of uncertainty and fear.
With all of these changes, it is comforting and reassuring to know that our God is constant and is there for us in all that we are experiencing. James 1:17-18 says “Every generous act of giving with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.”
Dear God, help us to be your first fruits as we adapt to living out faithfully in this time of change. May we bear this good fruit to our neighbors, our communities, and our families.
Beth
Joys & Concerns
Let’s all give a big THANK YOU to our dedicated food pantry volunteers! Phil G, Bill F, David B, Linda and Rik L, Virginia, Melanie and Derek S, and Carol and Jim D. Thanks to these dedicated First Friends volunteers who are willing to donate their time and assume the risk to help provide food for those in our community who are less fortunate.
Quaker-Affiliated Organizations
Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) -- Update and Appeal for Food Relief
In April, the RSWR Board met to approve grant funding for twenty new projects in India, Kenya, and Sierra Leone this year. These grants will resource women-led micro-enterprises with great promise for the future of the women, their families, and their communities, empowering them in a sustainable and self-determined way. But our hopeful planning for the future was tempered by the stark reality of the coronavirus pandemic today, and the threat it poses to our women partners. Due to the spreading outbreak and government ordered sheltering-in-place in their countries, these women now cannot work. And without income, they cannot feed themselves or their families. RSWR's field representatives--some of whom worshiped with us here at First Friends last October--have named food relief as the most urgent need at this time. Until the public health crisis passes, food relief is how RSWR can best serve our women partners right now.
To meet this crisis, RSWR has decided to provide a total of $120,000 in food relief to the women who count on us. The Board approved an immediate disbursement of $50 in food relief to each of the RSWR 2019 grant recipients--a modest amount for us in the U.S., but incredibly consequential for them. Then, if we are able to raise sufficient funds by the end of May, we hope to disburse a like amount per person to our 2018 grant recipients. Both these groups of grantees were experiencing success in their fledgling businesses until the coronavirus outbreak. Because of our relationship with these women, RSWR is ideally situated to be the conduit for this assistance, with an efficient, reliable way to disburse funds using already established channels.
If you have already donated in response to this appeal, we--RSWR staff, Board, and our women partners--thank you for your help enabling women to feed their families until they are able to reopen their businesses. If you haven't, please prayerfully consider a donation to RSWR in support of this food relief effort. You can donate by check mailed to RSWR at 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, IN 47374, or for more information on how to donate go online to www.rswr.org. All donations labelled "food relief " will go directly to our women partners (please identify your donation in this way). By donating today, you make a better tomorrow possible for them. Thank you.
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
Did you miss the premiere of our past Sunday Meeting for Worship? Watch it ANYTIME at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1lMP6pbtx8. We hope you had a wonderful and safe Sunday! Keep an eye out in your email for details soon on the coming Sunday’s virtual service!
All are invited to Fellowship Hour and Meeting for Business ~ After virtual worship this Sunday, we hope you will join us at 11:00am on Zoom for Fellowship Hour! You can join through computer or phone! At 11:30 we will transition the Zoom call to Monthly Meeting for Business. At this meeting we will discuss reopening the Meetinghouse. See below for more info. If you’d like to join the Zoom meeting, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org.
Reopening Discernment ~ One question on most of our minds today is “when can we regather for activities like Meeting for Worship?" The decision as to how long to delay (beyond the advice of our public health officials, which we have followed to date) belongs to us, and we would like to hear from you. Our discernment process will include the following online meetings:
Advancing Clerk’s Council from May 18th to May 11th (to gather initial feedback from our Committees and Trustees);
Seeking volunteers at our Meeting for Business on May 17th to join a special reopening task force;
Holding a Called Meeting on June 14th to seek all member feedback; and
Providing an update at Meeting for Business on June 21.
The Meetinghouse will remain closed until after the report from the task force is reviewed and approved. This forecloses any gatherings at the Meetinghouse until July at the earliest (and potentially beyond in accordance with the approved task force recommendations). Once the Meetinghouse reopens for Worship and other activities, we intend to live stream only those portions of our Meetings for Worship that would be appropriate for our Quaker manner or worship (in consultation with Ministry & Counsel). This should allow everyone to participate in most of our worship activities online until such time as we are individually comfortable returning to the Meetinghouse (and perhaps beyond to benefit anyone who is unable to attend in-person).
We look forward to regathering together in ways that balance health data, Meeting consensus, and individual circumstances, and we sincerely appreciate your involvement in this process!
Respecting Wildlife and Other Gardening Tips ~ When buying seeds for organic raised beds it is best to avoid treated seeds. Chemicals used in them often ward off fungicide, disease and animals like deer and rodents. However, in tests with mammals some animals’ organs have been damaged. Some chemicals used in treated seeds kill pollinators like bees and butterflies. Sometimes these agents travel through the plant as it grows; some other chemicals stay in the soil. Packets will say if seeds are treated. Usually the seeds themselves will be brightly colored to warn people not to eat them or handle them with bare hands. In short, consider the safety of wildlife as you buy. For your enjoyment, here is a portion of a treasured poem that the poet dedicated “To the right worthy and virtuous ladie; the Ladie Carey.”
Muiopotmos, or The Fate of the Butterflie
What more Felicite can fall to Creature,
Than to enjoy Delight with Libertie,
And to be Lord of all the Workes of Nature.
To raine in th’ Aire from Earth to the highest Skie,
To feed on Flowres , and Weeds of glorious Feature,
To take what ever thing doth please the Eie?
-Edmund Spenser (1590)
Some gardeners lost plants to our May freezes. It is not too late to try again but be ready to cover plants if needed. Cloth or glass jars are better than plastic since it can weigh down or burn plants if not removed early the next day.
Thank you F family for working on the communal portions of the garden!
Please note the new diagram for rotating crops. Unfortunately some previously printed versions are incorrect. I apologize for the confusion. --Nancy
Men’s Threshing Together ~ Hey Men! Join us for a special Zoom Happy Hour with Men's Threshing Together on Thursday, May 21 at 7:00pm. Bring your favorite beverage and connect with us on Zoom and let's check-in and see how everyone is doing during this pandemic! Pastor Bob will be hosting this event. See you at Happy Hour (our normal time - 7pm just on Zoom!) To join, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org for the Zoom meeting information.
Did You Know? We have lupines around the peace pole plaque and we invite you to watch and consider how you can make a miniature national park in your backyard. See this video from a Yosemite Conservancy naturalist. https://youtu.be/gM6GFtlfdDw
Calling All Graduates! ~ As we do each year, we will be honoring our graduates on Sunday, May 31st. If you or someone in your family is graduating from high school or college, please notify the office so we may acknowledge them! office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485. Please have your graduate write a short bio of what they plan on doing after graduation, as well as fond memories at First Friends, and what First Friends has meant to them. Thank you for helping us honor your students!
The Meditational Woods has an abundance of saplings available for transplanting. If you are interested in Tulip Poplar (state tree, grows straight and tall, likes sun) Redbud (beautiful spring buds, interesting shapes) Paw-Paw trees (understory tree, yield fruit in 10 years) Persimmon (can’t tell if male or female) Perhaps some oaks and maples. Let Mary B or Mindy S know. We’ll show you where and you get to dig ;)
First Friends Bible study ~ All are welcome to join this new bible study group here at First Friends! The first book we will study is a publication in the Barclay series called Illuminate: John (The Spiritual Gospel) (2011). The group will meet virtually each Thursday night at 7:30, beginning Thursday, May 14. The originators are Amy P, Linda L, Megan W, and Tim W. Members will take turns facilitating, as they feel comfortable. The facilitator will not be a teacher; rather they will manage the discussion based on the questions in the Bible Study book. The Illuminate series was highly recommended by Bob Henry. If you're interested in listening in and/or participating, please email the office at office@indyfriends.org to find out the virtual platform and how to participate. It is not necessary to attend all the sessions. You'll need to order your own copy of the book.
More about the book (from Barclay): Perhaps the most distinguishing feature about John’s Gospel is the long dialogues he records between Jesus and unbelieving Jews. John’s purpose is clearly evangelistic: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (20:31) Some commentators see sacramental overtones almost everywhere in the Gospel of John; however, it’s interesting to note that John is the only one of the four gospels where there’s no mention of the bread and wine at the Last Supper. As Friends there’s much in this gospel that supports emphasizing the primacy of spiritual reality as opposed simply to relying on a creed or a religious ritual. In fact, a primary purpose of the lessons in this quarter should be to teach a Quaker understanding of the gospel of Christ.
Join us for Unprogrammed Worship by Zoom! We are now gathering for unprogrammed worship on Mondays and Wednesdays by Zoom. On Mondays, you can join us at 12:15, and on Wednesdays, log on with us at 6:45pm. We’ll spend 15 minutes to share joys and concerns and then have our hour-long worship. Many thanks to Kathy R, who is hosting this worship. To join the Zoom worship please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org for the Zoom meeting info.
Material Aid / Food Pantry Fundraisers ~ This is the time of year that First Friends has held its fundraiser for the Mid North Food Pantry. You may have seen this in last week’s Friend to Friend newsletter. The food pantry is busier than ever and needs the financial support that First Friends has provided in the past. There’s also another area of help that we need to address...the First Friends’ Material Aid Fund. This is a fund that is used to provide emergency assistance to members and longtime attenders of First Friends. Due to the limited amount in this fund, the assistance provided is not on-going but rather for one-time emergency needs...rental assistance, a utility bill, a new tire, etc. This fund has historically maintained a balance of $3,000 – $4,000 but, due to several recent needs, is now down to a few hundred dollars.
Many folks at First Friends are not aware of the existence of the Material Aid Fund. This is understandable since distributions from this fund are not publicized. Given the current coronavirus situation, the need for both the pantry and the Material Aid Fund are expected to substantially increase. Your help is needed. Hopefully, over the next month or so, we will receive “stimulus monies” from the federal government. Some folks will need such monies (and possibly more) for food, rent and other basic living needs. Other folks may have less of a need or no need for such monies. Please consider donating some or all of such monies that you may not need to these outreach endeavors. With your help, the pantry will be able to provide food for the needy and the Material Aid Fund will be available for our neediest members. Checks can be written to First Friends with a notation of how you would like your contribution split between the 2 funds...50% FP/50% MA or however you are led. You can also give by text! Simply text the keyword and amount you’d like to donate to 317-768-0303. Use keyword “material” for the Material Aid fund or “pantry” for the Mid-North Food Pantry. Thanks for your consideration.
Support First Friends! Friends, during this time we are still in need of your support to keep the Meetinghouse going, to continue online Meetings for Worship, and to keep our ministries afload. As we all learn to navigate this new world of social distancing together, we are happy to share new and easier ways you can continue to support the Meeting while stuck at home! First Friends now accepts online giving. Please visit www.indyfriends.org/support for more information or to give. There are a number of ways to support, including:
giving online using a credit card or bank account (much like online shopping)
giving through text
setting up automatic contributions through your bank
submitting a pledge
These methods truly support First Friends while allowing you to stay within the safety of home. They are also incredibly secure; our online and text giving options offer bank-level security encryption, so you can give with confidence. If you have questions or would like to be walked through how to do it, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org or call 317-255-2485. Thank you for supporting First Friends, especially during these times!
Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for May:
Black-throated Green Warbler
Communication
During my college years, I was fortunate to have the chance to work during two summers at Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. The work was not glorious; I washed dishes, pots, and pans in the kitchen of the hotel. The glorious aspect was the northwoods wilderness symphony of bird songs. As a beginning birder that first year, I was amazed at the sounds of winter wrens and common loons, the latter echoing up and down the harbor. I wanted to describe what I was hearing to my brother, who had gotten me started in birding earlier that year. Each day I heard one bird in the pines, but could not find it. I wrote to Scott that it was saying, “Buzz-buzz duh-duh buzz.” That did not help him much, but he did suggest black-throated green warbler as a possibility. Eventually I DID see the bird, and Scott was correct. From guidebooks we learn that there are two songs: zee-zee zoo-zoo zee (when the male is establishing a territory), and zee-zee-zee-zee-zee-zoo-zee (when communicating with females). The song I had been hearing was the first.
In May, as this species is migrating through Indiana on its way up north, we can hear this warbler sing either song, as it is practicing for nesting season. I saw and heard this bird during the first week of May in the middle of the Meditational Woods, and I saw one there last fall on its way south.
Wouldn’t life be simple if we all communicated with each other using only two songs, one meaning this, and the other meaning that? Simple? -Brad J