As Way Opens
Reading Richard Rohr’s writings this week about Christmas reminded me again of how God comes into our world.
"There’s really nothing necessarily pretty about the first Christmas. We have Joseph breaking the law, knowing what he should do with a seemingly “adulterous woman,” but he doesn’t divorce Mary as the Law clearly tells him to do, even though he has no direct way of knowing that the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit [Matthew 1:18–24]. It can certainly lead us to wonder why so much of Christianity became so legalistic when we have at its very beginning a man who breaks the law to protect the dignity of the woman he loves. Then we clearly have a couple that is homeless and soon to be refugees or immigrants in their flight to Egypt shortly after Jesus’ birth [Matthew 2:13–15].
So where is this God revealing God’s self? Certainly not in the “safe” world, but at the edge, at the bottom, among those people and places where we don’t want to find God, where we don’t look for God, where we don’t expect God. The way we’ve shaped Christianity, one would think it was all about being nice and middle class and “normal” and under the law. In the Gospels, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are none of those things, so they might just be telling us we should be looking elsewhere for our status and dignity. Maybe the reason that our knowledge of God is so limited is because we’ve been looking for God in places we consider nice and pretty. Instead, God chooses the ordinary and messy.
What is our story as Christians? God being totally vulnerable, totally poor, a little child. If we’re honest, this is not a fitting image for God. It’s telling us right away that God is not who we think God is! Sadly, most people’s image of God is jolly Santa, making a list and checking it twice, finding out who’s naughty or nice. It’s certainly not this humble, helpless baby who has come to love us in ways that we’re not ready to be loved.
What this feast tells us is that reality, at its deepest foundation, is good, even “very good.” The divine is hidden quietly inside the human. The holy is hidden in the physical and the material. Therefore, we have every reason to live in hope and trust and confidence."
May we this holiday season find God in unexpected places, within the ordinary and within our own messiness. And may we seek God’s face in the stranger among us.
Merry Christmas.
Beth
Joys & Concerns
A note from Shawn P:
To my First Friends family: Thank you so much for your many letters, cards, words of appreciation and the wonderful celebration you had for me in November: it was so much fun!
I am truly humbled and honored to have been part of the music ministry here at FF for 25 years and that FF has been a place where I could grow in many ways. I am most grateful for the lifelong friendships I have from here and First Friends will always be a part of me.
Much love,
Shawn
A note from Billie M:
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to one and all! Big hugs ALL AROUND! -Billie
Christmas Singalong ~ Hark! What was the joyful noise emanating from the halls of First Friends last Friday night? No, not necessarily angels but three Santas! Jim and the Band (Jim K, Jesse S and Luke, Jim’s nephew) appeared for a Christmas Singalong.
It was a dreary, rainy night outdoors; indoors there were refreshments and jingle bells. Words of Christmas carols were shown on a screen in case singers only remembered the choruses. The performance also featured moving original music and lyrics by band members, especially when Luke sang solo.
As participants were leaving a call came in from Billie Main who is in hospice care at her son’s home. The crowd sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” to her and she responded in typical Billie fashion. She sang her rendition of “Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends” (not real name, but you know the song) back to the gathering. All present laughed at Unforgettable Billie’s special gift to us. Everyone dispersed with a smile and disappeared into the December night.
-Nancy (Thanks to Nancy S for the photos).
This past Sunday was our annual Children’s Pageant in Meeting for Worship. The kids had a great time, and so did we! Thank you to Sam Ryan for bringing baby Lana to be our Baby Jesus. All of our children did a wonderful job telling the Christmas story!
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
Christmas Eve Service ~ We invite you to join us for our annual Christmas Eve Service, which will be held in-person on Friday, December 24 at 5:30pm. This family Christmas Eve service, “Let There Be Light!” is a simple, Quakerly take on Christmas. We will have Christmas music, a song for the kids, and lighting of individual candles. We hope you will join us for this special service. If you’d like to join us online, we’ll have a separate video premiering at 5:30 on our YouTube channel that can also be watched at any time. Tune in at https://youtu.be/yl5o03g0uu4.
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. There will also be no Friend to Friend next week, December 29. We hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones!
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 Rhyne’s home and via Zoom starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, December 28, 2021 led by Kathy R.
Welcome to our Afghan Family!
First Friends Co-Sponsors Afghan Evacuees
First Friends welcomes our sponsored Afghan family to Indianapolis and our First Friends community! We have been expecting them and preparing for their arrival.
Our co-sponsor, Exodus Refugee, told us Thursday that we are matched with an Afghan evacuee family of six— a mother, father and four children, one young enough to need a highchair. Their native language is Dari and they speak no English.
The family settled into their new home with help from Exodus’ housing team since it was a very fast turnaround time when the family decided to remain in Indianapolis rather than continue on to Bloomington. The Exodus team stocked the home with food and furniture and is allowing the Sultanis to select items from First Friends’ donations. Steve S, Point Person for the Set Up Activity Group, may need volunteers to help move items at a later date.
The Afghan Team and helpers will NOT meet the family until after January 3rd because of low staffing at Exodus and a lack of interpreters. Then we will learn more about them.
Thank you everyone for your gifts of prayer, time, talent, household goods, knowledge, and dollars to support the First Friends Afghan Project, Exodus and ultimately the Sultanis.
Re: Furnishings and household goods
From: Barbara O, Afghan Project Coordinating Committee, Set Up Activity Group
Many thanks to everyone who has offered furniture and other household goods to our family! They have seen our list and have chosen a few pieces that they need. We are not actively asking for more, nor will we schedule any pick-ups until we receive word from them. We are told that it will likely be after January 3. We’ll let you know as soon as we have their complete list of needs.
Re: Monetary Donations
From: Jim D,
Afghan Project Fundraiser
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.
For your convenience we are including the two links to articles about Afghan culture and customs that we have featured previously. Here is a guide from Riley, and here is another guide from Southeastern National Tuberculosis Center.
—Nancy S, Clerk, First Friends Afghan Project
‘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.
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
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— office@indyfriends.org.
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.
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.