As Way Opens
This holiday season, I have tried to focus our attention at First Friends on the Light coming into the darkness. At Vespers, I began the service from the back of the Meetinghouse proclaiming the Scriptures from Isaiah 9, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” As well, the theme of our Family Christmas Eve Meeting for Worship this year is “Let there be Light!”
This week, Beth and I were to visit Jan G and her husband, Jim. Yet with our exposure to Covid and Jan’s current condition undergoing chemotherapy, we decided to stay safe and make our visit by Zoom. Jan had asked that we keep it just as we had planned in-person. So, with warm beverages in hand, we joined together for a wonderful conversation. It was during our visit that the subject of Light and Darkness came up once again.
Jan mentioned she had written some thoughts after virtually attending a recent Carrie Newcomer concert. It was a query that Carrie had presented during her set that caught Jan’s attention. Even though the query was about reflecting on all that has happened during 2021, it offered a new perspective of that Light coming into the darkness. Carrie’s query was simple,
In 2021, what lit up your life?
Jan went on to share the beautiful response she wrote to that query. After we ended our Zoom gathering, I spent some time personally processing. What (or maybe even who) lit up my life in 2021? As I pondered, I realized quickly how much “lit up my life” this past year.
What a perfect query to focus on as we consider the Light coming into the Darkness of our world this Christmas, and what an important query to ponder as we bring 2021 to a close. What lit up your life? or maybe, how are you lighting up someone’s life around you?
“You are all children of the light and children of the day.
We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”
1 Thessalonians 5:5 (NIV)
Grace and peace,
Bob
Joys & Concerns
Note from Eric B: Thanks to all who have sent me notes of concern and encouragement over the past 10 days, as I've been dealing with COVID. It's not been a fun experience, that's for sure. But your cards, texts, and emails, reminding me that you've been thinking of and praying for me, have lifted my spirits and, I'm convinced, gotten me through the worst of it. I look forward to seeing you all in Meeting for Worship soon!
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
CHRISTMAS SINGALONG ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17 - Jim, Jesse, and Luke will lead a Christmas singalong on this date in Fellowship Hall from 7:00-8:15 PM. Bring your favorite percussion if you wish. Come and make some joyful holiday noise with us!!
This Sunday, December 19th after Meeting for Worship we will be selling chocolate, coffee, olive oil and soup in a jar to raise money for Right Sharing of World Resources. RSWR is an independent Quaker not-for-profit organization that gives grants to groups of marginalized women in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and India to fund individual micro-enterprise projects. Right Sharing’s work is grounded in a sense of stewardship for the world’s material, human, and spiritual resources. If you’d like to support RSWR, or would just like to buy some nice Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers, remember to bring your wallet!
NOTICE: DATE CHANGE for Annual Christmas Tea ~ Please note that the annual Christmas tea date has changed to December 19th immediately after worship. There will be lots of cookies and punch and fellowship. (For health and safety, cookies will be served rather than grab-your-own.) You can drop off cookies on December 18th from 10am-12pm or in the morning of the 19th before Meeting for Worship. Happy holidays!
You’re invited to a free flute concert! You’re invited to a holiday flute concert by Indy Winds Flute Choir. Carl B and Lynda S are both members of this group. Their holiday concert will be held at 3:00 PM on December 19th at St. Marks United Methodist Church in Carmel, 4780 E 126th St. The concert is free. All are welcome!
First Friends Financial Update: Friendly reminder – we hope to collect pledges for 2022 by this Sunday, December 19. Click to make a pledge online, or contact the office at office@indyfriends.org for a pledge card to be mailed to you. Thank you for your support of the Meeting.
Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us from virtually anywhere in the world as we discuss Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh
During Sarah Smarsh’s turbulent childhood in Kansas in the 1980s and 1990s, the forces of cyclical poverty and the country’s changing economic policies solidified her family’s place among the working poor. By telling the story of her life and the lives of the people she loves, Smarsh challenges us to look more closely at the class divide in our country and examine the myths about people thought to be less because they earn less. Her personal history affirms the corrosive impact intergenerational poverty can have on individuals, families, and communities, and she explores this idea as lived experience, metaphor, and level of consciousness.
Smarsh was born a fifth generation Kansas wheat farmer on her paternal side and the product of generations of teen mothers on her maternal side. Through her experiences growing up as the daughter of a dissatisfied young mother and raised predominantly by her grandmother on a farm thirty miles west of Wichita, we are given a unique and essential look into the lives of poor and working class Americans living in the heartland. Combining memoir with powerful analysis and cultural commentary, Heartland is an uncompromising look at class, identity, and the particular perils of having less in a country known for its excess.
We will gather at the Kathy R’s home and via Zoom starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, December 28, 2021 led by Kathy R.
First Friends Continues Welcome Preparations for Family of Afghan Evacuees
Like Santa’s elves getting ready for Christmas, First Friends is buzzing with anticipation as it prepares for the arrival of an Afghan family. The Meeting is co-sponsoring the evacuees along with Exodus Refugee. It is a ministry and FF participants are holding the family in the Light, even before their arrival.
Here is another cultural reference guide, this one from Exodus Refugee, that you might find helpful! This can be used in conjunction with the last guide we sent out from Riley.
When our family is assigned to us, we will spring into action right away to furnish and equip their new home for their move-in. We will need to have quick access to the furniture, dishes, and cookware that will make it possible for them to live on their own. Therefore, we are developing a list of items that will, or may be, needed. That will certainly include things like beds, a table and chairs, a couch, lamps, cookware and utensils, a set of dishes, and a few basic tools.
If you have any such things available for donation, please email Barbara O. She will maintain a list from which we will access needed items when we are ready to set up the household. We will call you as soon as we know your items are needed. Thank you!
Yesterday the Afghan Project Coordinating Committee (Ed M, Barbara O, Brian D and Nancy S) held an Orientation for Activity leaders. The Meeting is committed to undertaking a minimum of these 12 Activities and the Activity group leaders are background-checked and vetted or in the process of being vetted by Exodus:
Set up housing, furnishings—Steve Sweitzer
Prepare a culturally-appropriate meal—Paula K. & Kathy Farris
Public Benefits Application, Cash Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP—Brenda Rodeheffer
School Enrollment—Ed K.
Social Security Application—Tim Decker
Transportation Assistance—Barbara Oberreich & Brian Donahue
Enrollment in English Language Program—Nancy Scott
Create a Budget—Beth Henricks
Selective Service Registration—Brian Donahue
Sufficient Food Supply—Cindy Calley
English Language Tutoring—Corinne Imboden
Set Up Bank Account—Beth Henricks
Exodus Refugee, sub-contracted by the U. S. Government, requires that First Friends raise $5,000 to assist the resettlement of Afghan evacuees. We hope to achieve most of this goal yet this year but will also accept donations in January 2022. Checks should be written and sent to First Friends with “Afghan Family” noted in the memo section. Or you can donate on our website at indyfriends.org/support by choosing “Afghan Evacuee Assistance” as the fund or text 317-768-0303 with keyword “Afghan.” If you plan to make a contribution in 2022, we would appreciate that you send a note to First Friends with the amount that you intend to contribute in 2022.
David B is serving as liaison between the Afghan Project and Witness and Service Program Meeting. Many other people are helping with communications responsibilities and more. Thank you to all!
If you have questions beyond donations (Jim Donahue, financial and Barbara Oberreich, furnishings), please contact the Afghan Project Coordinating Committee or Nancy S, Clerk of the Afghan Project.
Please note: Office Closed ~ Please note that the Meeting office will be closed Monday and Tuesday, December 27 and 28 as well as Monday, January 3rd due to the holidays. We hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones!
‘Tis the season to receive mail with postage stamps on it! This is an ideal time to begin trimming stamps off packages and cards that you receive. Trim them with 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch around them and drop them in the box on the bench by the east door of First Friends. They will be sold and the proceeds given to Right Sharing of World Resources. This will benefit communities in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and India.
You’re Invited to Alhuda Mosque Tour ~ We will be taking a trip to Alhuda Mosque in Fishers on Saturday, January 15th at 10:00am. We will have a tour and a time for questions and answers. Please let Beth know if you would like to join us.
Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for December
Canada Goose: A Reputation Altered
The Canada Goose is a species that can be seen flying over the meeting house property in any month of the year, as it moves from on body of water to another, usually in pairs or small flocks. This species only occasionally stops here, not in the woods, but in the front yard of the church building, or, more likely, in the grassy yard north of the parking lot, garage, and garden.
When I was young, adults told me that the sight of flocks of Canada Geese flying southward in the fall was a sure sign that fall was nearly over, and winter was approaching. Likewise in the spring, the northbound Vs of geese assured us that spring was here, and summer on its way. Folks looked forward to this twice-annual viewing of the cycle of nature, and appreciated its regularity.
Geese nesting in Central Indiana was pretty much unknown. Then, over the years something changed: Canada Geese appeared to be hanging around, year ‘round. Yes, it is true!! The reported cause was the invention, proliferation, and prominence of apartments and office parks with their ponds. Geese apparently said to each other, “Why fly all the way north to Michigan and beyond, when we can stop right here where all our needs are easily met?” There you have it, but that is not the end of the story. Many of you readers have witnessed the negatives. Besides the droppings cluttering sidewalks, the stubborn, slow-moving geese and automobiles are a poor match. In addition, the birds often choose to nest in unfortunate places. In Fishers a pair nested near the entrance of a large box store, and, nearby, another pair hatched chicks in one of the drive-up lanes of a drug store. In both cases, the male of the pair defended the nest area, chasing away customers, managers, and pets on leashes!!
I am not here to be a negative blame assigner. I appreciate geese, and sympathize with their plight. I believe there is a lesson here somewhere. ~ Brad J
Adult Quaker Affirmation Coming Soon ~ We are glad to offer an adult Quaker Affirmation class series which will begin on Sunday, January 16, from 11:30-1:00. This is a 8-week study of what it means to be a Quaker. It will cover Quaker history, theology, and what Quakers are doing in the world today. If you’re interested, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org or Beth at Beth.henricks@indyfriends.org.
Mark your calendars for Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading book club titles for 2022!
January 25 ~ The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
February 22 ~ Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
March 29 ~ The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson
April 26 ~ Let the Lord Sort Them by Maurice Chammah
May 31 ~ Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
June 28 ~ The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
July 26 ~ The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
August 30 ~ Love Your Enemies by Arthur C. Brooks
September 27 ~ The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
October 25 ~ Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
November 29 ~ The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
December 27 ~ The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
The group meets at 7pm either on Zoom or in the Parlor. To sign up for the email list, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org.
This Week’s Queries
What do I need to change in my life to find peace?
Where am I creating “barriers” for others to find peace?
Who are the folks on the fringe I need to identify with so they can experience peace?
Where am I using my position to withhold peace?
Is my life green and blossoming with opportunities for peace?