As Way Opens
Since the pandemic first demanded we shelter-in-place, I committed to focusing some of my limited free-time on my creative outlets. Since our son, Sam is connected with the Indianapolis Arts Center as a member of the Youth Arts Council, I was hoping this spring or early summer to take an art class and get more involved. The pandemic quickly brought that idea to a close. So instead, I thought I would challenge myself in a variety of ways. I made a plan and then it grew.
Quarantine Thoughts: “estar a salvo” (acrylic on mini-canvas 6” x 6”) This is dedicated to all our LatinX essential workers in the cities and fields. And since I am a Quaker, I had to make the spiritual animal a fox in honor of George Fox.
First, I decided instead of consuming the normal amount of religious and spiritual books, I would limit those and focus also on a list of artist biographies that I have wanted to read. Already during this pandemic, I have read biographies or autobiographies of Georgia O’Keeffe, Marc Chagall, and Marina Abramovich, and I have two more on the way. Second, I decided that I would chronicle the pandemic through an ongoing social media display titled, Quarantine Thoughts: Artful Expressions of a Pandemic. Currently, I have created and displayed eight different pieces utilizing a variety of media. They are often quick thoughts or feelings that I want to capture in whatever media is available at the moment. Thirdly, I decided to look into my own city’s arts council and began interacting with them through their Monday 2 Monday creative challenge. Each week they give a prompt of two opposite words (i.e. past or present, energy or relax, etc.) and artists from throughout our community create or share past work that they believe represent one of the two topics. Then throughout the week, the art council posts groupings of our work in a kind of weekly art show on Facebook. This led me to my latest creative venture, starting an artist Facebook page that displays my love for art and my creative expressions. Feel free to drop by my new page at RSH Expressions the next time you are on Facebook.
Quarantine Thoughts: “Empty” (ink drawing)
It seems like a lot, when I write it all out, but each of these things has been a joyful discipline that has helped me stay sane during these trying times. As I have begun explaining my art and sharing it more widely, I have come to realize how much it truly is influenced by my Quaker faith and spiritual journey. The first painting I shared with my city’s arts council was Resurrection Light: Beyond All Limits of Space and Time and I was able to share the story behind it from my Easter Sermon. This created a wonderful exchange about who Quakers are and what all we believe. As well, I found reading artist biographies have been much more spiritual than I imagined. I even just began reading the classic book by Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Art that explores these connections. Finally, through my own artistic creations, I have found new ways to express the struggles, questions, ideas, and even theologies that I have had a hard time articulating.
It has been a breath of fresh air during this pandemic and isolation to have a little more time to engage my love for art and see how it too is an extension of my ministry. I pray you are finding ways to engage your creative outlets during this time, because I believe we ALL are creative in our own special ways! That is part of the Imago Dei (image of God) within us. I hope you will take some time today to create and see where all it goes!
Grace and peace,
Bob
Quaker-Affiliated Organizations
Right Sharing of World Resources (RSWR) -- Update and Appeal for Food Relief
Recently, 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, and the threat it poses to our women partners today. 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 over the next month and a half, 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.
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
Quakr Network Notice ~ Due to low member engagement, we will suspend our trial of the Quakr Network on May 10. Please download any materials that you would like to keep prior to this Sunday. Thanks!
Advocates for Immigrants in Detention! Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest (AIDNW) serves as a support system for immigrants detained in the NW ICE Processing Center located in an industrial area of Tacoma. This is an organization that Tom and Noell K now volunteer with! Due to COVID-19, AIDNW has increased expenses trying to help immigrants with transportation, meals and hotel costs as they travel to reach their families. They are promoting an online fundraising campaign, GiveBIG Washington, to raise funds for this great, effective, and desperately needed organization. This is a two-day campaign which ends today!!
If you’d like to learn more about AIDNW and/or donate to the cause go to https://www.givebigwa.org/and type AIDNW in the “Find Organizations” box. On the AIDNW profile, click on “learn more” and you will find Tom & Noell’s personal Fundraising Page by clicking on their picture. They are trying to raise $1000 by giving $500 to match donations from their friends and family. Before going to their page be sure to watch the video Eric’s Story and check out the other video and pictures. These images powerfully explain why Tom & Noell are dedicated to AIDNW. You can also visit the AIDNW website at aidnw.org and donate through that platform if you wish. Thank you for your support during this time!
Calling all members and attenders! Please don’t forget to complete the Clerks’ Survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/ffmeeting. Today is the last day to respond!!! Now’s your chance to tell Clerks’ Council what’s working for you (and areas of improvement) as we seek your feedback on everything from Meeting for Worship to our Christian Education programs. The survey only takes a few minutes. We appreciate your responses!
Did you miss the premiere of our past Sunday Meeting for Worship? Watch it ANYTIME at this link: https://youtu.be/QbZDhkrBWS0. 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!
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!
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!
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 contact the office at office@indyfriends.org. 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.
Easy Seed Organization and Crop Rotation Planning for Vegetable Gardens
This Sunday is Mother’s Day, usually a good marker for when to plant seeds and young plants. Usually frost-free nights will ensue after or around that date.
Organizing Seeds for Planting Now, Later in the Season and Next Season
Take clear plastic gallon freezer bags (not good for earth, though so I recycle) so seeds don’t get wet. Label bags: legume, root, leaf, fruit and flower. I usually put herbs in the leaf bag. The idea is to separate heavy and light feeders, crops that take the most nutrients from the soil and plants that replenish them. That way you can rotate crops every season or two in a raised bed or among a group of raised beds. Changing plant locations can decrease insect populations that overwinter or leave eggs behind. It is also a method to discourage disease in the same manner. The same type plants are not there to invade.
Record planting dates directly on seed packets. Planting directions are right on the packs. Sometimes I save empty seed packets of my favorites so I know exactly what to get next time. It is easy to discard old seeds that are no longer as fertile. I have a notebook where I keep plant layouts so I remember next season. I can record pest and disease onsets to aid in future planning. To the right are a couple of ways to rotate crops!
Mother Earth thanks you for your care and gives back to you many times over. Happy Mother’s Day!
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!
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.
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 would like the link to the Zoom meeting, contact the office at office@indyfriends.org.
Queries for the Week
(From self-led worship)
Who has God placed on my mind that I need to reach out to and bring some happiness (or make feel warm and fuzzy) this week?
How have I been “rocking my chest” and longing for God during this difficult time? Have I been quiet and patient as I wait on God’s response?
Am I nurturing my True Self during this pandemic? What can I do to become even more my True Self?
(From virtual service)
Where is impatience getting the best of me during this pandemic?
How am I waiting on God and seeing God in fresh ways during these challenging times?
How am I allowing this disruption and chaos to transform me?