As Way Opens
Tomorrow, many will celebrate Earth Day. This year, First Friends has made a month-long focus on our Earth, its care, and the important things we can glean from it for our spiritual and daily lives. Sadly, many miss the important connection between our environment and our Creator God.
Just the idea of global warming seems to polarize many Christians still today. Whether you believe science or not, you must admit these issues are on the minds of the world and are creating increased anxiety and fear.
A few years ago, I found it interesting to poll my college students on what they worry about the most in our world. One of their top answers was the weather and natural disasters. Yet, it is an alarming reality that many people don’t seem to be taking this as serious as our young adults. All too often, environmental subjects are dismissed as mere political spin.
On his blog, Nathan Davis mentions two important points that Christians need to address:
1. Christians have a traditional, deeply rooted affiliation with extreme political views, which in the past have disputed the validity of environmental concerns. Under this influence, they parrot statements fed to them that dismiss or minimize any danger we may face.
2. Many are affected adversely by their belief that the world will one day fall into destruction and be done away with by God and that the world will waste away under his judgment.
This belief, of course, can contribute to a careless attitude toward the earth due to the impending doom already set before it.
Along with Davis, I see these views leaving the church insensitive, selfish and out of touch with reality and what science teaches us. The church is often considered to be turning a deaf ear to what many believe to be a moral issue. Are not moral issues to be addressed by the church? And even more, do we not care how the church is seen by the world?
What gives me hope and calls me to respond in a positive manner is knowing we are committed to our Quaker Testimony of Stewardship – that we value the care of our Earth and take it seriously, and seek to promote environmental justice for the benefit of the next generations. If we embrace this testimony and make our voice known, we have the power of changing this perception of the Church in our world today!
Happy Earth Day!
Bob
Joys & Concerns
We at First Friends hold in the Light the families and loved ones of the 8 victims of the senseless shooting at the FedEx facility in Indianapolis. We ask that you join us in prayer.
Quaker-Affiliated Organizations
IFCL -- Redistricting Commission Hearing Finale April 22
The Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) will hold its last scheduled hearing on Thursday, April 22 at 7:30pm. A link to register for this virtual event is here. Webinar Registration - Zoom
This will be a chance for people across the state (not just in their own Congressional District) to learn the Commission's conclusions from what they heard from citizens about redistricting at the nine Congressional District hearings to date. The ICRC will be reporting on their findings to the Indiana legislature ahead of redistricting this fall, so this hearing is both a finale and a preview. Plus, attendees will be able to speak up with any comments or questions they might have. A great opportunity for those who attended one of the previous hearings, and for those who missed out the first time. Please feel welcome to attend, whether you know anything about legislative redistricting or not. Contact Phil Goodchild (goodch713@aol.com) with questions. Thanks.
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
Join Norma for a Wildflower Walk on Earth Day! Connections invites you to a walk through Holliday Park to look at the beautifully blooming wildflowers. It will be held on Thursday, April 22 (Earth Day!) from 1-3pm at Holliday Park (6363 Spring Mill Rd, Indianapolis, 46260). We’ll meet in front of the Nature center for the walk which begins at 1pm. Our guide will be our own Norma W, author of Wildflowers of Holliday Park. If you’re interested you must contact the office at office@indyfriends.org to RSVP, as spaces will be limited. Norma will also have copies of her book available for sale that day. The event will still go on in the event of light rain, but anything harder and we’ll reschedule to the following Thursday. Stay tuned for other programs organized by Connections, including a bird watching event!
Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us from virtually anywhere in the world as we discuss The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson. On Winston Churchill's first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally--and willing to fight to the end.
We will gather via Zoom starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 led by Loryne C.
Claim Your Raised Bed in the First Friends Community Garden! Earth Day is here! Time to claim a garden plot in the north lot Community Garden! Contact Samantha R. or Nancy S. if you want to keep last season’s raised beds or if you want to join us and start a plot. No experience necessary; we will help you learn.
The garden has kale, spinach, lettuce and onions that overwintered. One gardener has planted peas, a cold weather crop. Some gardeners have cleared their plots ready for planting after the cold snap. Now is a good time to add new soil and nutrients to your raised bed. Weeds are abundant. They are easier to remove now before those long tap roots go deeper and before they shed seeds or develop runners and spread. The thistles are especially irksome since they sport stickers and often need to be dug out. So gardeners get going!!! Spring is here for the breathing.
Write with Friends: New Activity Beginning Monday April 19th ~ Friends are invited to a small writing group where participants may write whatever they want to write—stories, memoirs, journaling, poems, etc. 10:00 AM immediately before Monday Meditation. Two prompts to get you started will be offered, but what is offered need not be accepted.
This will be a live activity in the parlor, socially distanced and masked. Please bring writing materials and a clipboard or notebook. Open to anyone around age 12 and over.
It is not necessary to stay for the Meditation which begins at 11:15 and finishes at noon. Although we have a practice of sharing our meditational experiences afterwards. Meditation participants do not require that you stop writing.
10:00 to 11:00 AM this coming Monday, the 19th, skipping April 26, then May 3, 10, May 17, June 7, 21, 23.
Creation Care ~ Don’t know where to start with adding native plants in your home garden? The Indiana Native Plant Society is hosting this free virtual event on native plants in the home landscape. Register by April 28th! https://mailchi.mp/ea0816263e5e/beauty-and-the-beasties-landscaping-101-for-a-wildlife-friendly-garden?e=7720dfd558
This Thursday, we will be continuing to weed and tidy up the pollinator garden and prepare a planting space for native flag iris to honor the Wood’s benefactor, Marjorie Wright, who passed away many years ago. Marjorie Wright loved iris in the spring and instead of bearded iris, we are planting native flag iris that prefer a wet area in which to thrive. Bring your gardening gloves and head to the Woods at 10 AM for 90 minutes of gardening with others.
Rethink what you recycle! You can be part of the solution with the help of a handy chart on what is and is not recyclable, provided by Consumer Reports—find the link here!
$tamping for Dollar$ ~ First Friends is becoming known among Quakers around the country for helping Right Sharing of World Resources by selling donated stamps and sending the proceeds to RSWR. RSWR supports women's self-help grassroots organizations in India, Kenya, and Sierra Leone. Who exactly donates the stamps? This question made the Stamping for Dollars team curious about the geographical distribution of our donors, Norma Wallman kindly attached a red dot to a United States map at every location from which we have received a stamp donation since April 2017. View the map in detail here. Thanks, Norma!
We learned that, as shown in the photograph, donors in 43 states send us stamps. Only Idaho, Nevada, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Rhode Island are without stamp donors. Notice that the eastern third of the US has more stamp-sending locations than either the central or the western third.
We also receive stamps from nine foreign countries: Canada, Costa Rica, Great Britain, France, India, Finland, Australia, Switzerland, and Norway.
We are grateful to all of our stamp donors. For more information, see www.rswr.org.
The newest edition of the $stamping for Dollar$ newsletter is out now! View it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TtEu890xyoqAVZC8zOPUkfnJWN4VBqAU/view?usp=sharing
You’re Invited to the USFW Spring Conference! All women are invited to the United Society of Friends Women (USFW) virtual Spring Conference which will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, April 27, 9:00 a.m. – noon. The guest speaker will be Katrina McConaughey, who along with her husband, Shawn, are FUM’s Program Officers in the Africa Ministries Office in Kisumu, Kenya. It is a special pleasure to welcome Katrina to our group as she and Shawn will be moving to Plainfield in March 2022 when Shawn becomes Superintendent of Western Yearly Meeting. In addition to hearing from Katrina, we have exciting business to conduct. If you would like to Join, simply follow this link to join when the meeting starts: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81304893359?pwd=Qmx5R3JsandwVjRJYzRmMDJEMnc4QT09. Or, you can dial 312-626-6799, enter Meeting ID: 813 0489 3359; Passcode: 149396.
Library Book Highlight! America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege, and Bridge to a New America, by Jim Wallis
Wallis, a well-known evangelical Christian, preacher, teacher, and author of ten books, is dedicated to equality and racial justice. Quoting from a great variety theologians, historians and philosophers, he establishes the social gospel firmly within a Christian foundation. In the chapter “Repentance Means More than Just Saying You’re Sorry he quotes New Testament scholar N. T. Wright: “…repentance is the recognition that the living God has made us humans to reflect his image into this world and that we haven’t done it.” Repentance is not only about personal sins but on the larger scale our societal sins against the poor and people of color. He writes: the next bridge to cross is American’s transition from a majority white nation to a majority of racial minorities. He refers to the demographic shift projected to occur during the next few decades.
If you’re interested in checking this book out, we can mail it to you! Simply contact the office at office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485.
Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for April
Golden-crowned Kinglet
The Eyes Are the Key!
In November of 2019 I introduced the reader to the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. This month we meet its cousin, the Golden-crowned Kinglet. Both species can be seen this month, but will leave in a few weeks for their northern nesting locales. As the names suggest, one difference is the color atop the head. Male ruby-crowns have a red spot, while the females have none. Female golden-crowns have a yellow patch surrounded by black, and so do the males, but the latter also have an orange-red patch in the middle of the yellow!! If one googles images of these two species, it will become clear. Let’s complicate matters. These are just about the smallest birds around here with the exception of hummingbirds, and kinglets are constantly in motion. Once a birder locates the spot on the branch where the bird is, it isn’t there anymore. It moves from branch to branch and leaf to leaf, constantly flicking its wings. So you know it is a kinglet, but which of the two? Getting a good look at the head patch is difficult. I have found that it is easier to look at the eyes. The eyes of the ruby-crowned are black, and set in a small oval patch of white, while in the golden-crowned, the black eye lies in a black stripe! So the “eyes” have it, although I do enjoy seeing the crown color. In our woods to really get to know the bird, one should look into its eyes.
I know people like that. They hurry and scurry, accomplishing much, but are difficult to get to know in the midst of activity. With a little patience, and, given a chance to really look them in the eye, true “Friend-ship” can result!! -Brad J
Reopening Task Force Report. Currently, the Meetinghouse is open to small groups, with requirements for face coverings and social distancing protocol. Participants assume responsibility for risk of COVID-19 exposure. To check on availability of small groups, including Zoom options, contact the office at office@indyfriends.org, 317-255-2485.
Additionally, larger groups of up to 30 people may meet in Fellowship Hall, with the same safety criteria and assumption of responsibility as smaller groups, including mask-wearing. Groups using Fellowship Hall will need to be trained to operate fans and switches, as well as shown how to open and reclose/relock the windows. Training sessions can be coordinated through the office.
The Reopening Task Force presented a report to Monthly Meeting on April 18, available by clicking here. The report included a recommendation that the meeting consider plans for outdoors worship on Mothers’ Day, May 9, in Mediational Woods. Also recommended is that Monthly Meeting consider resuming indoors worship the following Sunday, May 16, to continue indefinitely as circumstances allow. In response these recommendations, a called Clerk’s Council meeting has been scheduled for April 22 to address these recommendations.
Note: For all in-person gatherings, indoors and out, members and guests will be required to maintain social distancing, wear masks and following additional CDC guidelines. Extra face masks will be provided for those who need them.
Ventilation:
· As reported in March 2021, the Trustees have shared the following messaging with the Reopening Task Force: “Trustees established fresh air ventilation is abundant in Fellowship Hall and the Meeting Room. First Friends was built without central air conditioning. Ventilation was an important consideration during construction planning. We are blessed with an excellent ventilation system in Fellowship Hall and the Meeting Room. There are fans and switches in both locations. When fans are running and windows and doors are opened, there is an abundance of fresh air available in each of those rooms. Any group requesting use of Fellowship Hall is required to use the ventilation system in place while meeting.”
· As a review, the Trustees presented a report in November 2020 on the ventilation at the First Friends building, based on assessment including: the HVAC system and filters, attic and exhaust; a 1950s report created by the First Friends Construction Committee; and measurements taken using a CO2 detector. Among the findings:
- In the Meeting Room, there are four windows that open, plus four ventilation fans in the ceiling. With windows opened, the fans can draw air through the Meeting Room to meet the CDC guidelines of six fresh air exchanges per hour.
- In Fellowship Hall, a fan on the west wall and an exhaust fan in the kitchen draw air outside. A fan near the entrance brings fresh air inside, heats and circulates it. There are 11 windows that open and two new air conditioning fans.
Queries for the Week
(From virtual worship)
· What am I learning from the creation around me about my faith journey? When will I spend some time in creation this week to glean from its wisdom?
· As Quakers, what do our “purity codes” look like today? Who might we unaware be categorizing, excluding or labeling in our daily life?
· Where do we see God planting a “mustard seed” in the life of First Friends?
(From self-led guide)
· Do you see evidence that we are currently up to the task of answering the spiritual and moral questions at the root of our ecological crisis?