As Way Opens
This weekend was a rather full weekend of emotion and celebration for many at First Friends. It started Friday with the Celebration for Life for Florah Trench Wright (the mother of Kristin Noble). The pandemic did not deter us from remembering Florah and the amazing life she lived. This was the first funeral I’ve officiated that was socially distanced and live broadcast from the funeral home – it was even broadcast in Jamaica, Florah’s home. Millard, Florah’s husband, gave a beautiful eulogy that left me feeling as if I knew Florah (even though we never had the opportunity to meet). The family was grateful for the part First Friends played in Florah’s Life and it was evident throughout the service.
On Saturday, my family sat down in the comfort of our own home and watched the virtual commencement of our oldest son, Alex, from Huntington University. It was a bittersweet time as we watched photos of Alex and his friends, heard well-wishes from professors, students, and the college president, and tried to find some closure to Alex’s four years at Huntington. Obviously, this was not how we envisioned this experience for him, but we are proud of him for graduating with his Bachelor of Science in Animation. Our prayer now is that he will be able to find a job in the coming months – please pray!
On Sunday, after worshipping and meeting for business with all of you, I quickly ate my lunch and headed to our meditational woods. Again, due to the pandemic, we have wanted to bring some closure to the passing of our beloved Friend, Dan Rains. Beth and I prepared a brief committal service for Dan’s ashes and the planting of a memorial oak tree in our Meditational Woods. The socially distanced gathering took place as raindrops fell. We heard from Susan, Dan’s brother, and other family members who shared brief words honoring Dan. David Beatty and Mary Blackburn helped with making sure the tree was properly placed. As we all agreed afterward, this was just the beginning of a bigger celebration for Dan that will take place after this pandemic is over.
What I think we need to remember is that the emotions and awkwardness of this difficult time do not mean we stop celebrating and remembering people’s lives and accomplishments. It might mean we have different types of gatherings, and use new means of technology, but we must never forget those we love. I ask you to hold the families of Florah and Dan in the Light and remember all the graduates and their many accomplishments.
Grace and peace,
Bob
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 grant recipients from the last two years--a modest amount for us in the U.S., but incredibly consequential for them. As of this week, 1,862 women have received food aid through your generosity. Our goal is to help an additional 780 women and families over the next two weeks. These 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. (See a note of thanks from one of the women groups in Sierra Leone, and a photo of a woman receiving her bag of rice, right.) 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
Friendly Reminder from the Trustees - Please remember to contact the trustees for approval before adding any landscaping/trees to the property/grounds at First Friends. After opinions from two different arborists last fall, the trustees met and determined that we needed to be more active in responsibly managing landscaping on the grounds. In addition, any new landscaping additions to the Meditational Woods also requires approval by The Meditational Woods Committee (a subcommittee of Ministry and Counsel). The Trustee decision was announced at monthly meeting in November. The Spring season is a good time to remind everyone of the decision. Thank you for assisting us as we work together to maintain the grounds.
Did you miss the premiere of our past Sunday Meeting for Worship? Watch it ANYTIME at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sExYd0lU4I8. 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!
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, contact the office for a Zoom link!
We want to shower our graduates with love! This year, with the normal graduation season in turmoil, we’d like to shower our graduating seniors with cards and love from First Friends. If you’d like to join us, please consider sending cards to our seniors!
Join us from virtually anywhere in the world as the Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading book club discusses A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (496 pages) on Tuesday, May 26, 2020. “He can't leave his hotel. You won't want to. From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility--a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel. In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel's doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count's endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.” (Goodreads) Laura C will be leading the discussion in via Zoom starting at 7 pm, if you’d like to receive the Oak Leaf email or to join the Zoom meeting, please contact the office.
About Raised Beds; More Planting Tips ~ Community gardeners are doing a wonderful job planting and social distancing. The garage remains closed to gardeners at this time because of COVID-19. If there are concerns please contact Sam or Nancy by email, phone or Marco Polo.
Raised Beds
Pros: Our garden plots are arranged as raised beds. Individuals are responsible for their own garden planning and care. Raised beds can be readily replaced or moved. Advantages include that the soil can be replenished and warms faster and easier allowing for a longer growing season. It is easy to aerate and fertilize. The earth is well-drained and the pH can be tested and controlled. Rocks, weeds and grubs can be readily removed in your planting territory. Rid your garden of grubs before you plant anything or they will be back in force, transformed into bugs, later in the season!!
Cons: Watering may be required more often than at ground-level. Ants may accumulate since they prefer well-drained soil. Regular cultivation will hold them at bay. Snails enjoy the bed edges and will gather under wood. However, they are easy to find and remove.
Planting Vegetables
Thinning and spacing are often overlooked by inexperienced gardeners. Proper attention to these details makes a huge difference in the health and production level of organic gardens. Thin seedlings as directed by your research. Give individual plants enough space. This will encourage stronger individuals and reduce pests and disease.
Hardier plants can go into a plot during early spring: carrots, peas, beets and radishes. Later, tender plants like green and runner beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini can be planted. They grow rapidly as the weather warms, especially tomatoes. Stake or cage them before they are out of control; leaves and stems break easily if a gardener tries to slip a cage over them later. Harvest herbs like basil and cilantro regularly to encourage further growth. Radishes, salad leaves and herbs provide early harvests. They may be sowed successionally-- spaced out in small batches throughout the growing season.
Weeds
Weeds grow rapidly, so keep up with them so they do not overrun your crops and before they are deeply-rooted. It has been said that one year’s weed is seven years’ seed. Let that truth motivate your labor! --Nancy
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 ;)
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.
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
Calling all First Friends Women ~ we will have a women’s gathering on zoom on Sunday, June 7th at 12:00 noon. We will hear poetry from some of our women and welcome other poets (please let our office know that you would like to share a poem).
We will create a picture collage. You will need a large blank paper, glue and magazines. Michelle T has magazines and will deliver some to your doorstep - please let the office know if you would like a delivery of magazines.
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
Queries for the Week
(From self-led worship)
What this week, do I need to spend more time contemplating and becoming more educated on as it relates to my own racism?
Where, in or around me, do I see inequalities? What causes those inequalities? And what can I do about them?
How might my degrading views of others be returning to me and not allowing me to see our reality?
(From virtual service)
What has me immobilized and fearful during this pandemic storm?
What is my potential and the opportunities that have arisen?
In what ways may I need to be bold, step out, and challenge myself to see with a new perspective this week?