As Way Opens
Last Wednesday, Sue and I celebrated our 25+1 Anniversary in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. On Wednesday evening we had the opportunity to attend Summer Light: Art by Night at the historic Brookgreen Gardens a sculpture park and arboretum in Murrells Inlet. Upon entering the gardens, we were drawn into The Noble Gallery which featured, Wild Bees (https://www.sharpeatmanguides.com), a series of exquisite up-close photographs of native bees in their natural habitat. Sue and I were fascinated by the tremendous variety of shapes, colors, and details of these beautiful insects. Even a few of the photographs featured bees on flowers we have in the gardens surrounding our home.
While standing in the gallery viewing these photographs, I was taken back a couple weeks to a very special lunch I had with Linda Lee. After several hours of telling each other our life stories and love for different expressions of art, Linda became very animated, rose from her chair, and walked across the room to grab a large coffee table book. She was almost giddy about this book, but the subject matter came as a surprise. Linda smiled, handed me the big book, and exclaimed, “It’s a book about ants and I am learning so much from them!”
Linda proceeded to sit down next to me, and we looked in detail at each of the 160 pages of the book, Ants: Workers of the World by photographer Eduard Florin Niga and science writer Eleanor Spicer Rice. Linda pointed out the colors, the shapes, and the stunning diversity of each ant species. She told me what she learned about community and work, but it was her fascination with their dedication and commitment to one another that spoke to her condition. She remarked with a smirk on her face, “The Church could learn a lot from ants,” and then winked at me. We laughed.
Ants and Bees have always been considered metaphors for our lives. More than any other species, ants and bees function as part of a whole. They cannot and do not survive as individuals, they survive as members of a group, and the group’s survival is the implicit goal of each individual creature’s life. Linda lived her life as part of a whole and helped each of us live more fully as part of a community. What she saw in the lives of ants was what she lived out in our Meeting and the community surrounding her on a daily basis.
As Sue and I looked at those bees that evening at Brookgreen Gardens, I told her how Linda would love seeing these photos and how I couldn’t wait to share our experience with her. As we walked out into the gardens, we continued to talk about how impactful Linda has been in each of our lives, not knowing that later that very night she would suffer a massive heart attack and 48 hours later be gone.
Thank you, Linda, for always seeking to help us be whole – you will be greatly missed in our community and our lives.
Grace and peace,
Bob
Quaker-Affiliated Organizations
IFCL--'For the People Act' Rally
The 'For the People Act' (H.R. 1 and S.1 in Congress) represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build up our democracy by putting more power in the hands of everyday people by strengthening voting, elections, campaign finance and ethics laws. IFCL will join with Common Cause Indiana and other allied organizations to hold a rally in support of the 'For the People Act' on Tuesday, July 6th at noon in front of Senator Todd Young's office in downtown Indianapolis. We’ll hear a few speeches and then march a few blocks to Senator Mike Braun’s office at 115 N. Pennsylvania.
Indiana lags behind most other states when it comes to voter turnout. While IFCL and others continue to work at the state level to pass common sense voting reforms like Election Day voter registration, no-excuse vote by mail, and independent legislative redistricting, what we really need is federal legislation that will set a national standard for voting and elections.
That’s why this federal legislation is so important. We want to send a clear message to Senators Young and Braun to give this important bill fair consideration.
WHAT: For the People Act Rally
WHEN: Tuesday, July 6th at noon
WHERE: Meet outside 251 N. Illinois, downtown Indianapolis
Please RSVP here, then consider joining us on July 6th. Thank you.
RSVP NOW >>
Joys & Concerns
Please Pray for Ed M & family ~ Linda L passed away peacefully last Friday evening surrounded by family. She will be deeply missed by all of us. A memorial service will be held at the Meetinghouse on Saturday, July 10 at 1pm. A calling will follow afterward with a few chocolatey desserts available, which were Linda’s favorite. You can read Linda’s obituary here. Please hold Ed and Linda’s sons in healing prayers of Light and Love.
This week Beth is in Minnesota for her brother David’s funeral. The service went well, and Beth is grateful for the support from friends during this time.
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
No Friend to Friend or Office Hours next week ~ Please note there will be no Friend to Friend on July 7 due to several staff holiday absences. Also, for the same reason, there will be no regular office hours that week (July 5-8).
NO MEETING FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY ~ Please also note that there will be no Meeting for Worship on Sunday, July 4. We will instead hold unprogrammed worship that day at 10:15. Also, an online video (Light Reflections from First Friends) will premiere that day on our YouTube channel as usual. Feel free to join us either way.
Calling all ice cream lovers! First Friends will be working at the Dairy Bar at the Indiana State Fair on Saturday, August 7th all day. This is a major yearly fundraiser for our youth program! We plan to have two shifts, 9:30am-3:30pm, and 3:30-10:00pm. Volunteers will receive a free ticket to the State Fair for that day, as well as unlimited ice cream, shakes and cheese sandwiches. Please let the office know if you’re interested!
Sign up NOW for VBS! Registration is now open for Vacation Bible School this summer! This year’s theme is “Treasured: Discovering You’re Priceless to God.” We will kick off on Sunday, July 18 from 12-2pm after worship and then have daily sessions the following Monday through Thursday evenings from 6:30-8:30. Preschoolers through 5th graders are welcome. Neighbors, friends, and grandkids are also invited! We also still need volunteers for group leaders, station leaders and folks to prepare a snack for a night. For more information, here is the link for the intro for the VBS program: https://www.group.com/category/ministry-resources/childrens-ministry/vbs/treasured.do. If you’d like to sign your kids up or help with VBS, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org.
New Raised Bed Technique in Community Garden ~ If you take a walk in the Community Garden you will see some new raised beds. They are the first to use a no drill/no hammer/no nail technique to fasten the frames. A special corner block is used. This method allows more portability and beds can easily be built higher, if desired.
I have included a planting guide from Purdue that I got at the library. We have passed the longest day of the year and gardeners might benefit from this chart that shows what can be planted locally at this time. Keep on planning! ~Nancy
Woods Words ~ Mother nature has given our trees and plants lots of water over the past week. As summer temperatures rise, make sure your trees are receiving one inch of water each week. Also, look at the trees on your property and evaluate if they have too much mulch and are at risk of disease. We think that we are protecting our trees with mulch, but too much is not a good thing. Here’s a YouTube video explaining why we should keep mulch away from the base of the tree and protect the root flare: https://youtu.be/osii6Uw-psM
Did you get over cooked the other week? David and I did on our trip out West to visit Sarah. Temperatures reached 105 during the day in Kansas, so we cut our plans short and headed straight for the air conditioning. Purdue University Climate Change Research Center is helping educate Hoosiers about climate change and things we can do here at home.
On the political front, some positive action is occurring to use economic tools to contain CO2 emissions. Senators Braun and Stabenow have sponsored legislation called the Growing Climate Solutions Act.
"The legislation, introduced by U.S. Senator Mike Braun (R-IN) and Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), joined by U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Boozman (R-AR), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and co-sponsored by more than half the Senate, helps producers to generate and sell carbon credits by setting up a third-party certification process through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The bill also creates an online resource for farmers looking to connect with those experts and get more information and establishes an Advisory Council to provide input to USDA and ensure the program remains effective and works for farmers.”
So plant trees well, turn off the lights when you leave the room and reduce unnecessary electrical use, treat water like the precious resource that it is and give thanks daily to God for the glorious universe that God created. ~ Mary Blackburn
USFWI “Quinquennial” Conference ~ The Executive Committee of the United Society of Friends Women, Incorporated, is inviting all women to participate in a “virtual triennial” that will be held via Zoom, Friday-Saturday July 16 & 17. It might even be called a “Quinquennial (5 years) Conference” because we have not met since the 2016 Triennial that was held in Iowa. The conference theme will be “Resting in His Shadow,” which is the theme for the 2021-2022 Blueprints program year.
Click here for information about USFWI's upcoming virtual conference, including instructions for how to register. The sessions will be two hours long, one on Friday and one on Saturday. Guest speakers include Nikki Holland, Belize FUM Director, Dorcas Otieno from Tanzania Friends Mission, and Karla Jay, FUM Global Ministries Coordinator. The speakers will be exciting and the business kept to a minimum -- just what has to be done at each gathering -- so there will be opportunities to see F/friends from around the world.
Your Talent is Needed! ~ As we reopen our Sunday Meeting for Worship, we are looking for vocalists or instrumentalists who would like to perform during Meeting for Worship over the summer. Simply pick a Sunday in June-August and let the office know which day you would like to perform. Eric is available for accompaniment and to help you with whatever your performance needs are. If you’re interested, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485 with the date you had in mind. Or, use the sign-up sheet in the office hallway. We look forward to hearing from you!
Western Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions ~ All are invited to Western Yearly Meeting’s (WYM’s) annual sessions which will be July 23-25, 2021. This year’s theme is “See I am Doing a New Thing” (Isaiah 43:19). Most events will be held online, with 3 in-person events at the WYM Meetinghouse with online streaming so friends can view remotely:
Friday 7/23 evening - Quaker lecture by Colin Saxton
Saturday 7/24 evening -Missions gathering
Sunday 7/25 morning - WYM meeting for worship
Other events held online will be held online in an interactive format (zoom) with the opportunity for friends to gather and participate virtually. There is no fee to participate, though donations are welcome. Please register by 12 Noon on Monday, July 19. To register and for more information, please visit https://www.westernyearlymeeting.org/2021newthing.
Queries for the Week
• How has our definition/understanding of love affected/impacted the way we love each other?
• Like Jesus and Judas, how do we learn to love those that have betrayed our love for them in the past?
• As a church, what is our role in expressing Jesus’ love to those who are different from us?