Friend to Friend September 14, 2022

September 15, 2022

As Way Opens

A couple of months ago, Penny Paraskevas shared with Circle of Care her love for specialty license plates during one of our meetings. Since she shared, I have been noticing a lot more specialty plates while driving around Indianapolis.

The other day on my way to have lunch with our Superintendent, Shawn McConaughey, I came to a traffic light and noticed the car’s license plate in front of me read, “BEWHO UR.” At first glance, I didn’t get it. But then as the car sped off, I read it slowly, “be who you are.”

As I continued down the street, this sighting reminded me of a children’s book that I read to the Maple Seeds Preschool Cooperative (which meets in our Meeting) by the same title. The book, Be Who You Are is the companion to bestselling author, Todd Parr’s classic, It’s OK to Be Different. Two great books to read to your kids, grandkids, or your neighbor’s kids for that matter.

In Be Who You Are, Todd says,

Be who you are!
Be proud of where you’re from.
Be a different color. Speak your language.
Wear everything you need to be you.

Todd Parr reminds kids and adults alike, that their unique traits are what make them so special.

A big part of empathy, which we are talking about in our fall sermon series, is acceptance – the ability to see that others have a right to be their own unique persons. To be empathetic people we need to work on accepting people for who they are and letting go of our desires to change them. When we do this, we let them be different and think differently from us – uniquely the way God made them.

Remember to be who you are this week, and let others be who they are, too!

Grace and peace,

Bob

Joys & Concerns

You never know where Friends from our Meeting will show up. If you watch this video from the Broad Ripple Parks carefully you may see some familiar faces!

We had a great turnout for Sunday Funday and loved the amazing bounce house that was set up in fellowship hall. The kids (and a few adults) had so much fun bouncing and climbing the wall to slide down the other side. It was pretty cool to have this massive bounce house inside and thankful we could finally have something for the kids. We might do this again in the winter!

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat: Kaleidoscope - The Magic of a Subtle Shift ~ Ladies, you’re invited to the 2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat! It will be Friday September 23rd beginning at 5:00 p.m. through 11:00 on Sunday Sept 25th. Rachel Doll O’Mahoney, the new pastor at Valley Mill Friends will be our retreat leader. We will gather at the Benedictine Center in Beech Grove and the Center will provide rooms and meals. We will gather together to talk about our lives the past 2 years and how our experiences are shaping our future. We will have workshops, free time, meals together and some fun activities. We invite you to reserve your spot by contacting the office. Registration is due by TOMORROW, September 15th! The following is the pricing for 2 nights stay, 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and one lunch:

Single room with common bath - $158
Double room with common bath - $117

(Please note that only rooms with common baths are left.) We will have scholarships available to ensure anyone can attend if they want to. Our previous retreats have been a rich time of connection and community. This is a retreat that is trans inclusive/LGBTQ supportive.

SAWS Ramp Build ~ The Shalom Zone is planning another SAWS ramp build on the morning of Saturday, October 1st. SAWS is an organization that designs and builds ramps for folks who need a wheelchair and cannot afford a wheelchair ramp on their own. No experience is necessary...if you can carry some lumber and pound in a nail, then you qualify! The build usually begins at around 8 am and concludes around noon. Further details about time and location will be provided at a later date. The Shalom Zone needs to get its list of volunteers together no later than September 20. If you would like to volunteer or need more information, please contact the office.. First time volunteers must complete the volunteer form before their first build. This form can be found on the SAWS website: www.sawsramps.org. Thank you.

Fall Migration is Underway and our bird friends may stop in our Woods ~ Each fall, billions of birds take flight, streaming through the air on their far-flung journeys. Cornell Ornithology hosts its annual Migration Celebration to celebrate and marvel at this amazing natural spectacle. Join them for a festival of free, online events from September 12–22. You can enjoy two weeks of webinars and family-friendly programs with ideas and resources for your own migration activities. For more information, visit the Cornell website.

Want to learn more about native goldenrods? Here is a post by Alyssa Nyberg, restoration ecologist at Kankakee Sands Nature Preserve.

Are you interested in learning more about being engaged in protecting God’s earth? The annual Hoosier Environmental Council “Greening the Statehouse” is October 15, 2022: https://www.hecweb.org/gts/.

Confront the Climate Crisis: Confront the Climate Crisis (CTCC), in preparation for advocating for SB 255 again for the 2023 Sessions, is hosting a conference to bring a diverse set of stakeholders to the table and have an in-depth conversation about potential climate solutions for Indiana. For more information, view the flyer here.

National Drive Electric Week Carmel EV Ride and Drive - Carmel, IN Oct 01, 2022 - https://driveelectricweek.org/event?eventid=3141

Please bring your unneeded footwear of ALL types to the Donation Station in Fellowship Hall. Changing Footprints is on track to provide 50,000 pairs this year from our North Indy location alone. Demand for footwear is increasing, and our supply is dwindling! In addition to many Indiana nonprofits, we recently have been supplying shoes for people affected by the Kentucky floods. This summer we have provided footwear to organizations in Guatemala, Dominican Republic, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Thanks for your support!

Selling a Car? Help Someone in Need! One of our attenders, Rosita Moore is seeking a reliable and affordable used vehicle. If you have one, or know of someone who may have one for sale, please contact the office. Thank you!

First Friends Financial Update: Members and attenders are reminded that the Meeting seeks and welcomes financial support, as we currently are experiencing a dip in donations. To donate online, visit indyfriends.org/support/#givenow, or text to give at 317-768-0303. Other means of support include automatic giving, stock gifts, estate planning, and donation of IRA Required Minimum Distributions. For assistance in donating, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org, 317-255-2485.

The Stamp Program is Still as Active as Ever! The stamp program is still in full swing! The program collects and resells stamps to raise money for Right Sharing of World Resources, a nonprofit organization that provides grants to female-owned businesses in Sierra Leone, India and Kenya. So be sure to save your stamps, and leave or mail your donations to the Meetinghouse. Another issue of the program’s newsletter, $tamping 4 Dollar$ is available! View it here.

Men’s Threshing Together ~ Again this month, we are moving Threshing Together to the 4th Thursday of the month, September 22 at 7pm. Please see the Fall Schedule for locations. If you are interested in gathering with men who mull over current issues or topics, where all points of view are heard, no decisions are made, and all in a non-threatening atmosphere over a meal, then "Threshing Together" is for you! This group is trans inclusive/LGBTQ supportive.

Participate in our "Sponsor a College Student" project! Just select a college student and send them notes, cards, treats, etc throughout the school year so they feel connected. We still have 1 more student who needs to be sponsored! If you’d like to participate, take a student off the posterboard in the Meetinghouse. Please consider connecting with our students this year!

Are You Interested In Gleaning? ~ The Shalom Zone is trying to find out whether there are folks in our Shalom Zone churches who have an interest in gleaning crops. Gleaning is the process of walking through a farmer’s field and picking up produce left behind by machines that harvest the crops. The “gleaned produce” can then be donated to a food pantry or other organization who can use it. Notice of a gleaning event is typically short...a few days to perhaps a week. The farms are usually located in counties adjacent to Marion County. We would anticipate that we would meet at First Friends and ride together to the gleaning location. If you would be interested in helping with gleaning, please notify either the First Friends office. Our thought is to develop an email list of interested folks to use when gleaning opportunities arise. Notice can then quickly be sent out to determine whether there are folks who are able to help for a particular gleaning event that arises. Think of this opportunity as something that can not only provide food for the needy, but great exercise! Thanks for your consideration.

Indianapolis Festival of Faiths! Friends, the Festival of Faiths is coming around again and this time in person at White River State Park September 18th, 1:00 to 5:00pm! You can meet people of many different faiths, get "turbin-ized" by the Sikhs as Bob Henry did one year, join a drumming circle and maybe witness a Jewish wedding complete with the smashing of the wine glass. And of course, you can hang out with the Quakers and learn more about the Quaker Testimonies.

As in the past we expect to work with Fairfield Friends and perhaps another couple of local meetings. As always, we are looking for people to help us at the Quaker booth. Any amount of time is helpful but helping set up and take down are the times when we definitely need a minimum of two people.

If you would be willing to help with the booth, contact the office.

Seasoned Friends Is Back! Seasoned Friends will gather again for the first time in a few years since the pandemic on Thursday, Sept 29th at 11:30. We will have a soup and salad lunch together and talk about the things we would like to experience together as a group over the next few months. This has been a wonderful gathering in the past for anyone over 50 that appreciates gathering for food, fellowship and interesting activities. We welcome anyone that considers themselves a Seasoned Friend to join us. If you’re interested, please RSVP to the Meeting Office at office@indyfriends.org or 317-255-2485.

Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for September

Chipping Sparrow: As Common As Dirt?

The Chipping Sparrow does not get much respect in the world of birders. The feeling is not negative as with a House Sparrow or the European Starling. Every year in the spring we watch newly-arrived migrants, and make daily notes of species found. Unlike the oohs and aahs brought on by the sightings of Baltimore Orioles or Black-throated Blue Warblers, the first views of Chipping Sparrows are greeted by a matter-of-factness. They have a rusty-red cap, black-and-white stripes on the face, and white wingbars on a brown upper body. The song is a rapid-burst series of chips, from which it gets its name. So what is the issue? I believe it is simply “commonness”.

Yes, Chippies are everywhere! While found in most natural habitats, they have adapted well to suburban neighborhoods, baseball fields, cemeteries, and churchyards, even our own. So to a birder, it would be as if the pastor has announced a surprise performer, and you are watching and listening for the Beatles, Elvis, or even John Denver, and what you get is a pew-neighbor member of congregation singing “Kum-bah-yah”…again.

HOWEVER: The point is that our meeting welcomes special guests, and we learn much from them, but we also depend on our COMMON pew-neighbor members whose frequent well-done renditions of “Kum-bah-yah” keep us going each day.

- Story and photos by Brad J

FWCC Midwest Regional Gathering ~ You’re invited to the Friends World Committee for Consultation’s (FWCC) regional gathering. Friends from the Midwest Region (Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois) will meet in Plainfield at the Western Yearly Meeting site on Saturday, September 24 from 12:00 - 4:30pm. Come and meet Friends from the Midwest and hear from Shawn McConaughey (Superintendent of Western Yearly Meeting) and Robin Mohr (General Secretary of FWCC, Section of the Americas). For more information and to register, click here.

Adult Quaker Affirmation Coming Soon ~ We are glad to offer an adult Quaker Affirmation class series which will begin on Sunday, October 2, from 11:30-1:00. This is an 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. Anyone is welcome! If you’re interested, please contact the office.

This Week’s Queries

· Do I only give empathy when it is convenient to me?

· When other people offend me or make a mistake, do I withhold empathy?

· Do I look for opportunities to “educate” the other people in a conversation?

· Do I try to fix the problem instead of listening intently for how the person feels?

· Do I turn someone else’s vulnerability into an opportunity to draw attention to myself?

· Am I not willing to challenge my own beliefs, assumptions, or convictions in hearing another’s story?

Comment

Friend to Friend September 7, 2022

September 15, 2022

As Way Opens

I am reading a fascinating book called Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America by Fergus Bordewich. As Quakers and Hoosiers we probably know more than the average person about The Underground Railroad, but I’m not sure how in depth we go in our history lessons to understand how incredible this informal yet effective network was for many years. There might be a tendency to “romanticize” this organization but the courage, bravery, moral fortitude, religious inspiration and cleverness of abolitionists and blacks is heartening and hopeful.

It was the first organic racially integrated civil rights movement that defied society’s standards, that worked for the long term gain of equality and was likely one of the contributing causes of the Civil War. It started in Philadelphia. “At the turn of the nineteenth century, by the 1850’s the underground had developed into a diverse, flexible, and interlocking system with thousands of activists reaching from the upper South to Canada. The underground was a model of democracy in action, operating in most areas with a minimum of central direction and a maximum of grassroots involvement, and with only one strategic goal; to provide aid to any fugitive slave who asked for it.” It’s probably one of the reasons that the Quakers were such leaders in the organization. They came from a religious structure that was not hierarchal with minimal central direction. Many of the Quakers also felt strongly in their belief that there is that of God in each person and they could not look the other way when it came to slaves. Not all the Quakers were against slavery but because they were a fairly closed community, they would not report their neighbors assisting in the Underground Railroad even if they disagreed with the anti-slavery position.

When we visited the Levi Coffin house outside of Richmond, we learned that Indiana Yearly Meeting was not united on this issue and Levi’s own brother was not supportive of this cause. I think it was a difficult issue for many to engage in this civil disobedience, subverting the federal law and challenging the societal norms. Whenever there is cultural change taking place there will be resistance and many saying that we can’t push this hard and change will take time. Thank goodness there were brave and principled Quakers and others that made the decision that the time to act was right then, assisting thousands to freedom. As Levi said, “the dictates of humanity came in opposition to the law of the land, and we ignored the law.”

Beth

Joys & Concerns

Terry T is recovering from surgery and would like to say thank you to everyone who sent cards, calls, notes and meals!

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

Unheard Voices in Christianity ~ In the study group for Early Christian Writings, we found that there were many voices that have not been heard as Christianity developed its orthodoxy. Many of the women who were instrumental in the early Jesus movement were under-emphasized or written out of the story altogether. If we are indeed created in God's image male and female, it is important for us to pay attention in the women in the Bible and other Christian writings. In our next round of study, we will pay attention to these women of the Bible and other important unheard or lesser known voices in Christianity.

We invite you to join us on Thursday September 8th for our first look at Unheard Voices in Christianity with an emphasis on women. Just as the people of the Jesus movement met to break bread before meeting and worshiping together, so will we. Join us at 6:30pm for a light meal in Fellowship Hall before we begin our study. If you have any questions or comments contact the office.

SEEKING FRIENDS begins again this Sunday at 9:00am at First Friends, led by Bob Henry. This year we are beginning the year looking at Peter Enns’ book, The Bible Tells Me So…Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It. Enns is the Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. From the cover of the book:

“Christians have been defending scripture from attack for two centuries. In fact, argues Bible scholar Peter Enns, we have become so busy protecting the Bible that we are now unable to read it. In The Bible Tells Me So, he provides a revolutionary new perspective.”

We have ordered several copies of the book to have on hand this Sunday. You may also purchase or download online, or even borrow the book from the library. Our copies are $17.00 (scholarships available for any who need them). We look forward to you joining for this wonderful conversation each Sunday.

This Weekend: 2022 Fall Kickoff & Sunday Funday! ~ Please note some changes for this Sunday! We are excited for this year’s fall kickoff which will begin on Sunday, September 11th. Sunday School classes will start at 9:00am and we will serve breakfast starting at 9:30am. Please note a change: The choir will NOT meet this Sunday, but will start rehearsing the following Sunday, September 18th. At this time, there will be no Sunday school for children or youth. Also, due to weather, Sunday Funday has again been postponed to this Sunday. We will have a bouncy house and slip ‘n slide with lots of fun for the kids. So instead of pajamas—we encourage everyone to wear their swimwear for the slip-n-slide or wear your favorite sports team apparel. Please mark your calendars for that day! We hope to see everyone in their pajamas for a fun day! Please join us.

Participate in our "Sponsor a College Student" project! Just select a college student and send them notes, cards, treats, etc throughout the school year so they feel connected. We still have 2 more students who need to be sponsored! If you’d like to participate, take a student off the posterboard in the Meetinghouse. Please consider connecting with our students this year!

Are You Interested In Gleaning? ~ The Shalom Zone is trying to find out whether there are folks in our Shalom Zone churches who have an interest in gleaning crops. Gleaning is the process of walking through a farmer’s field and picking up produce left behind by machines that harvest the crops. The “gleaned produce” can then be donated to a food pantry or other organization who can use it. Notice of a gleaning event is typically short...a few days to perhaps a week. The farms are usually located in counties adjacent to Marion County. We would anticipate that we would meet at First Friends and ride together to the gleaning location. If you would be interested in helping with gleaning, please notify the First Friends office. Our thought is to develop an email list of interested folks to use when gleaning opportunities arise. Notice can then quickly be sent out to determine whether there are folks who are able to help for a particular gleaning event that arises. Think of this opportunity as something that can not only provide food for the needy, but great exercise! Thanks for your consideration.

“Hijacking History” IPJC Event ~ The Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center is delighted to invite you to their Speakers Event. The topic will be Hijacking History: How the Christian Right Teaches History and Why it Matters. Dr. Kathleen A. Wellman, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Southern Methodist University will draw on material from her book by the same title recently published by Oxford University Press, and will also address recent proposed legislation in the state of Indiana and debates about Critical Race Theory. There will be time for questions and discussion following her remarks. It will be held on September 14th at 7:00 pm on Zoom. If you’re interested, please RSVP to indypeaceandjusticectr@gmail.com. A Zoom link will be sent to all who RSVP prior to the event. We hope you will join us!

If you would be willing to help with the booth, contact Ed Morris at (317) 691-5542 or at emorri@earthlink.net

2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat: Kaleidoscope - The Magic of a Subtle Shift ~ Ladies, you’re invited to the 2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat! It will be Friday September 23rd beginning at 5:00 p.m. through 11:00 on Sunday Sept 25th. Rachel Doll O’Mahoney, the new pastor at Valley Mill Friends will be our retreat leader. We will gather at the Benedictine Center in Beech Grove and the Center will provide rooms and meals. We will gather together to talk about our lives the past 2 years and how our experiences are shaping our future. We will have workshops, free time, meals together and some fun activities. We invite you to reserve your spot by contacting the office. The following is the pricing for 2 nights stay, 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and one lunch:

Single room with common bath - $158
Double room with common bath - $117

(Please note that only common bath rooms are left.) We will have scholarships available to ensure anyone can attend if they want to. Our previous retreats have been a rich time of connection and community. This is a retreat that is trans inclusive/LGBTQ supportive.

Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for September

Chipping Sparrow: As Common As Dirt?

- Story and photos by Brad J

Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us from virtually anywhere in the world as we discuss The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel (388 pages) Everyone is welcome!

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.

We will gather in the Parlor and via Zoom starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 led by Carolyn T.

Oak Leaf is searching for 33 titles to pick for next year. Each book must have at least 10 copies available at the Indianapolis library. Please contact the office with your favorite titles to consider for 2023! We will gather them for October survey and have the big reveal at our annual lasagna dinner on November 29th! Everyone is welcome!

This Week’s Queries

1. Start by making a list of your current passions.

One might be a hobby.

One might be a relationship.

One might be a dream.

2. Next to each passion, write down whether or not you think you have to suffer for it.

Are your fingers nicked from failed attempts to accomplish a perfectly julienned carrot?

Does your significant other drive you crazy?

Are you wrestling with the title for the short story you’ve been sweating over?

3. Ask yourself if each passion is worth it.

Looking at your list, are there any that no longer give you that spark of excitement, curiosity, drive, and life force that they once did?

Comment

Friend to Friend August 31, 2022

September 1, 2022

As Way Opens

After taking our boys off to college last week, I finally found some time to enjoy our backyard once again. Sitting with a warm cup of coffee on our back porch in the early morning, I observed that much like our own boys, our gardens are in transition as well. Summer may be coming to an end, yet our Clematis is making one last resurgence and sending out some final blossoms. While our trees are starting to show some color change, the autumn bloomers are just at their peak.

I love these last moments of summer because they give us a chance to pause and enjoy all the work we have done throughout the spring and summer months. Another word for this moment is selah as is often seen in the book of Psalms. Many believe selah was a liturgical-musical mark meaning to stop and listen. Often while I am sipping my coffee, I simply get lost in the stillness and sacredness of this natural space, and I embrace Selah. It rejuvenates me and helps me prepare for what fall will bring in a few short weeks.

The other day as I was sitting on my porch, the following poem by poet and farmer, Wendell Berry came to mind. It articulates this transition taking place before our eyes.

The Summer Ends
by Wendell Berry, from A Timbered Choir

The summer ends, and it is time
To face another way. Our theme
Reversed, we harvest the last row
To store against the cold, undo
The garden that will be undone.
We grieve under the weakened sun
To see all earth’s green fountains dried,
And fallen all the works of light.
You do not speak, and I regret
This downfall of the good we sought
As though the fault were mine. I bring
The plow to turn the shattering
Leaves and bent stems into the dark,
From which they may return. At work,
I see you leaving our bright land,
The last cut flowers in your hand.

This week, take a moment to stop and listen to the transitions taking place all around us as we enter the season of autumn. Listen to the birds rustling, the leaves as they fall, and embrace selah in preparation for this new season to emerge.

Grace and peace,

Bob

Joys & Concerns

Our kids had a great time at our babysitting co-op this past weekend! Look at all the smiles!

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

Selling a Car? Help Someone in Need! One of our attenders, Rosita M is seeking a reliable and affordable used vehicle. If you have one, or know of someone who may have one for sale, please contact the office. Thank you!

Maple Seeds Preschool Fall Harvest Mum Buddies Fundraiser! Maple Seeds Preschool Coop (MSPC) is selling fun fall mum buddies! Sales of these fun potted mum plants will directly benefit MSPC. (Watch the Kickoff Video here!) Hurry—orders must be placed by the end of the day on Friday, September 2nd! Plants will be available for pickup starting October 5th at the Meetinghouse (an email reminder will be sent). To browse or place an order, visit https://app.fundraiseit.org/shop.php?code=14C8DE. Thank you for supporting MSPC!

Participate in our "Sponsor a College Student" project! Just select a college student and send them notes, cards, treats, etc throughout the school year so they feel connected. If you’d like to participate, take a student off the posterboard in the Meetinghouse. Please consider connecting with our students this year!

RecycleForce Presentation ~ Shalom Zone churches have arranged a presentation by Andrew King of RecycleForce at Epworth United Methodist Church on Tuesday evening August 30th at 7PM. RecycleForce is a non-profit organization with a mission of providing job training and support to folks released from prison. By providing recycling services for electronics they are also addressing important environmental concerns by keeping electronics out of our landfills. This is a unique organization that is providing important services to our community. Come and learn how RecycleForce is benefiting our community.

Mark Your Calendars! Due to weather, Sunday Funday has been postponed to this Sunday, September 4th. We will have Meeting for Worship outside for Labor Day weekend, as well as a bouncy house and slip ‘n slide. Please mark your calendars for that day!

Are You Interested In Gleaning? ~ The Shalom Zone is trying to find out whether there are folks in our Shalom Zone churches who have an interest in gleaning crops. Gleaning is the process of walking through a farmer’s field and picking up produce left behind by machines that harvest the crops. The “gleaned produce” can then be donated to a food pantry or other organization who can use it. Notice of a gleaning event is typically short...a few days to perhaps a week. The farms are usually located in counties adjacent to Marion County. We would anticipate that we would meet at First Friends and ride together to the gleaning location. If you would be interested in helping with gleaning, please notify the First Friends office. Our thought is to develop an email list of interested folks to use when gleaning opportunities arise. Notice can then quickly be sent out to determine whether there are folks who are able to help for a particular gleaning event that arises. Think of this opportunity as something that can not only provide food for the needy, but great exercise! Thanks for your consideration.

Mark your Calendar: 2022 Fall Kickoff! ~ We are excited for this year’s fall kickoff which will begin on Sunday, September 11th. Everyone is invited to wear your pajamas at the Meetinghouse that day! Sunday School classes will start at 9:00am and we will serve breakfast starting at 9:30am. The Seeking Friends adult Sunday School class will be led by Bob H. The choir will also meet starting at 9:00am. At this time, there will be no Sunday school for children or youth. We hope to see everyone in their pajamas for a fun day! Please join us.

Indianapolis Festival of Faiths! Friends, the Festival of Faiths is coming around again and this time in person at White River State Park September 18th, 1:00 to 5:00pm! You can meet people of many different faiths, get "turbin-ized" by the Sikhs as Bob Henry did one year, join a drumming circle and maybe witness a Jewish wedding complete with the smashing of the wine glass. And of course, you can hang out with the Quakers and learn more about the Quaker Testimonies.

If you would be willing to help with the booth, contact the office.

2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat: Kaleidoscope - The Magic of a Subtle Shift ~ Ladies, you’re invited to the 2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat! It will be Friday September 23rd beginning at 5:00 p.m. through 11:00 on Sunday Sept 25th. Rachel Doll O’Mahoney, the new pastor at Valley Mill Friends will be our retreat leader. We will gather at the Benedictine Center in Beech Grove and the Center will provide rooms and meals. We will gather together to talk about our lives the past 2 years and how our experiences are shaping our future. We will have workshops, free time, meals together and some fun activities. We invite you to reserve your spot by contacting the office. The following is the pricing for 2 nights stay, 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and one lunch:

Single room with common bath - $158
Double room with common bath - $117

Being an Afghan Youngster in America~ The First Friends Afghan Project (FFAP) continues to sponsor our Afghan family. FFAP provides services, including transportation when public transit is not feasible for them.

I took the family’s youngest son to soccer practice a few weeks ago. I witnessed how the benefit of our support (in a country free of violence perpetrated by a military on its own citizens) can make a difference in the quality of life for children who have endured traumatic events. As this young man was practicing soccer on a beautiful sunny evening, he suddenly stopped what he was doing and raised his arms with a joyful smile toward the sky. It seemed like a prayer of joy and gratitude that he could just be a boy and worry about nothing but having fun with friends.

It is very rewarding to help this family to adjust to living in a new country and to help them to learn the skills and knowledge they need, especially when it results in such joy and gratitude.

~ Dana F, Team Member, First Friends Afghan Project

This Week’s Queries

· Why do you do what you do? And why is that important to you?

· Why do you get out of bed every day?

· What do you believe at your very core?

· What is the one reason you keep coming back to, regardless of what you’re doing or how you’re doing it?

Comment

Friend to Friend August 24, 2022

August 24, 2022

As Way Opens

My son Greg sent me this paragraph yesterday out of the AA Big Book - “All my life I depended on people for my emotional needs and security, but today I cannot live that way anymore. By the grace of God, I have admitted my powerlessness over people, places and things. I had been a real “people addict,” wherever I went there had to be someone who would pay some kind of attention to me. It was the kind of attitude that could only get worse, because the more I depended on others and demanded attention, the less I received. I have given up believing that any human power can relieve me of that empty feeling. Although I remain a fragile human being who needs to work A.A.’s steps to keep this particular principle before my personality, it is only a loving God who can give me inner peace and emotional stability.”

These truths go beyond those that are just in AA. There is much here that can apply to each of us. There are so many people trying to fill that emptiness with relationships, money, power, prestige, addictions of all sorts. This hole that will never be filled from others, is only complete with the love of God, a God that hounds us, a God that accepts us just as we are, that gives no shame but embraces us as God’s child. The journey to fill this emptiness is the journey of our lives.

I read recently that while religion has disappointed us from the beginning, we can’t throw it out because we humans need something to belong to, a place to feel loved and something to fill that emptiness. If we don’t have a community like the beautiful faith community here at First Friends where we experience the love of God, that creates a sense of belonging and a sense of fullness from God, we will be running fast to fill that hole and can choose destructive groups like a gang, a supremacist group, a cult, or other dangerous groups to help fill that emptiness. We will look for it in so many places and things and people. And we will come up empty.

As the Psalmist shares with us in Psalms 4:8, “I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.” May we all lie down in the safety and peace of the Lord and feel the Lord’s fullness.

Beth

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

Men’s Threshing Together ~ If you are interested in gathering with other men who mull over current issues or topics, where all points of view are heard, no decisions are made, and all in a non-threatening atmosphere over a meal, then Threshing Together is for you! Please note that for this month, we will meet on the fourth Thursday, August 25 at 7:00pm at Pastor Bob’s house. We will be excitedly kicking off our 6th year of Threshing Together! Beverages and light snacks will be provided. We will plan to meet in our backyard - weather permitting. We hope you will join us!

Participate in our "Sponsor a College Student" project! Just select a college student and send them notes, cards, treats, etc throughout the school year so they feel connected. If you’d like to participate, take a student off the posterboard in the Meetinghouse. Please consider connecting with our students this year!

The First Friends Thursday night Bible study invites you to study the book Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job: Three Ways of Wisdom for thirteen weeks beginning August 25. The book is in the Illuminate series, which was recommended by Bob Henry. Contact the office if you'd like to participate in this small group, or even if you'd like to join only occasionally. The study meets by Zoom every Thursday at 7:30 pm. From the website: "These books of wisdom help readers consider life’s big questions of meaning, purpose, and the existence of suffering. Readers are encouraged to grow in wisdom and to avoid folly, and there's a promise offered—that by seeking wisdom, we will be guided into righteousness. This path is not free from suffering, but God is present, and we can find joy in the moments we have. Journey through these books to discover three aspects of biblical wisdom and reflect on how God is leading you in the way of wisdom today."

Babysitting Co-Op ~ Our babysitting co-op is happening Saturday August 27, 4:30 – 8:30, hosted by Tiffany B and Beth H. Dinner will be provided for the kids. Please contact Beth if you would like to have your kids join in the fun that evening!

Are You Interested In Gleaning? ~ The Shalom Zone is trying to find out whether there are folks in our Shalom Zone churches who have an interest in gleaning crops. Gleaning is the process of walking through a farmer’s field and picking up produce left behind by machines that harvest the crops. The “gleaned produce” can then be donated to a food pantry or other organization who can use it. Notice of a gleaning event is typically short...a few days to perhaps a week. The farms are usually located in counties adjacent to Marion County. We would anticipate that we would meet at First Friends and ride together to the gleaning location. If you would be interested in helping with gleaning, please notify the First Friends office. Our thought is to develop an email list of interested folks to use when gleaning opportunities arise. Notice can then quickly be sent out to determine whether there are folks who are able to help for a particular gleaning event that arises. Think of this opportunity as something that can not only provide food for the needy, but great exercise! Thanks for your consideration.

From the Woods ~ On Sunday, I saw several American goldfinches enjoying the seed heads of our purple coneflowers in the courtyard. They are having a feast of the foods that are a part of their natural diet. Who have you seen eating from nature’s bounty in our courtyard and Woods?

On Monday, August 29, volunteers will be getting the Woods ready for the September 4 outdoor service in the Woods. If you are free from 9-11am, come join us do some weeding, getting the twigs and branches out of the area for the service. Insect repellent is recommended!

Upcoming events:

· The annual Indiana Water summit will be September 7 & 8. If you’re not familiar with the Indiana Water Summit, it is a two-day annual forum designed to take a look at all the issues that our water supply faces. You can find out more about the Indiana Water Summit here: https://thewhiteriveralliance.org/programs/water-summit/

· Solar United Neighbors will be participating in two local events to spread the word about the benefits of rooftop solar. The success of our co-ops and advocacy depends on the passionate solar neighbors who are inspired to talk to their neighbors and continually take action to advance solar power.

· Cumberland Baptist Church Green Festival (Saturday, 9/10 from 3pm - 6pm)

Cumberland First Baptist Church

116 S Muessing St, Cumberland, IN 46229

· Bates-Hendricks Street Fest (Saturday, 9/17 from 3pm - 8pm)

Bates-Hendricks Neighborhood

1546 S New Jersey St, Indianapolis, IN 46225

· Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of The Nature Conservancy’s Kankakee Sands on Saturday, September 24 (if you’re not able to attend the Women’s Retreat). Kankakee Sands is a fantastic place where part of the northwest plains have been restored and American Bison reintroduced. For more information and activity locations head to www.nature.org/events and be sure to mark September 24th, 2022 on your calendar!

~Mary B, Woods Co-Clerk

Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us from virtually anywhere in the world as we discuss Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur C. Brooks (256 pages) Everyone is welcome!

To get ahead today, you have to be a jerk, right?

Divisive politicians. Screaming heads on television. Angry campus activists. Twitter trolls. Today in America, there is an “outrage industrial complex” that prospers by setting American against American, creating a “culture of contempt”—the habit of seeing people who disagree with us not as merely incorrect, but as worthless and defective. Maybe, like more than nine out of ten Americans, you dislike it. But hey, either you play along, or you’ll be left behind, right?

Wrong.

In Love Your Enemies, the New York Times bestselling author and social scientist Arthur C. Brooks shows that abuse and outrage are not the right formula for lasting success. Brooks blends cutting-edge behavioral research, ancient wisdom, and a decade of experience of experience leading one of America’s top policy think tanks in a work that offers a better way to lead based on bridging divides and mending relationships.

Brooks’ prescriptions are unconventional. To bring America together, we shouldn’t try to agree more. There is no need for mushy moderation, because disagreement is the secret to excellence. Civility and tolerance shouldn’t be our goals, because they are hopelessly low standards. And our feelings toward our foes are irrelevant; what matters is how we choose to act.

Love Your Enemies offers a clear strategy for victory for a new generation of leaders. It is a rallying cry for people hoping for a new era of American progress. Most of all, it is a roadmap to arrive at the happiness that comes when we choose to love one another, despite our differences.

We will gather in the parlor simultaneously with Zoom starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 led by Mary B.

Mark your Calendar: 2022 Fall Kickoff! ~ We are excited for this year’s fall kickoff which will begin on Sunday, September 11th. Everyone is invited to wear your pajamas at the Meetinghouse that day! Sunday School classes will start at 9:00am and we will serve breakfast starting at 9:30am. The Seeking Friends adult Sunday School class will be led by Bob Henry. The choir will also meet starting at 9:00am. At this time, there will be no Sunday school for children or youth. We hope to see everyone that day in their pajamas for a fun day! Please join us.

Mark Your Calendars! Due to weather, Sunday Funday has been postponed to Sunday, September 4th. We will have Meeting for Worship outside for Labor Day weekend, as well as a bouncy house and slip ‘n slide. Please mark your calendars for that day!

Green Team Summit 2022 is Approaching! You’re invited on Sunday, September 11 from 5:00-6:30 PM CT/6:00-7:30 ET for Green Team Summit keynote session with renowned climate scientist, Dr. Katharine Hayhoe! Dr. Hayhoe will deliver a live address with Q&A, exploring her latest book, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World. Now, Saving Us gives us the tools to have those conversations with our friends and neighbors—successfully! This keynote session will be the first of six sessions, where participants will explore the intersection of faith, climate change, and justice, access lots of free resources and Faith in Place programs, meet other people passionate about environmental justice, and more! In addition to the virtual component welcoming guests from around the world, regional watch parties will be hosted in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.greenteamsummit.org.

Indianapolis Festival of Faiths! Friends, the Festival of Faiths is coming around again and this time in person at White River State Park September 18th, 1:00 to 5:00pm! You can meet people of many different faiths, get "turbin-ized" by the Sikhs as Pastor Bob did one year, join a drumming circle and maybe witness a Jewish wedding complete with the smashing of the wine glass. And of course, you can hang out with the Quakers and learn more about the Quaker Testimonies.

If you would be willing to help with the booth, contact the office.

2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat: Kaleidoscope - The Magic of a Subtle Shift ~ Ladies, you’re invited to the 2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat! It will be Friday September 23rd beginning at 5:00 p.m. through 11:00 on Sunday Sept 25th. Rachel Doll O’Mahoney, the new pastor at Valley Mill Friends will be our retreat leader. We will gather at the Benedictine Center in Beech Grove and the Center will provide rooms and meals. We will gather together to talk about our lives the past 2 years and how our experiences are shaping our future. We will have workshops, free time, meals together and some fun activities. We invite you to reserve your spot by contacting the office. The following is the pricing for 2 nights stay, 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and one lunch:

Single room with private bath - $187
Single room with common bath - $158
Double room with private bath - $129
Double room with common bath - $117

We will have scholarships available to ensure anyone can attend if they want to. Our previous retreats have been a rich time of connection and community. This is a retreat that is trans inclusive/LGBTQ supportive.

Last Week’s Queries

· Have any of my passions become obsessions?

· Do I live in humility and not hold my passions too tightly?

· How do I more passionately follow the path of St Francis?

Comment

Friend to Friend August 17, 2022

August 18, 2022

As Way Opens

On Sunday, we hosted special guest, Bridget Moix, the General Secretary of Friends Committee on National Legislation. Bridget brought a wonderful message that had us considering our part in creating a Beloved Community in such a divided world.

After the message, I was moved to speak out of the silence about one of our family visits to the King Center in Atlanta. It was there that we first introduced our boys to Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved Community. The boys in turn pointed out how Quakerly the vision was. It is so important to the King legacy, that around the wall of the reflective pool that holds Martin and Coretta’s crypts they display the definition of the Beloved Community (see photo).

As I went back to look at the photo we took of the wall when we were there last, I was again moved by the words of the Dr. King’s vision and how important it is today in our world. Take a moment to ponder these words,

The Beloved Community is a realistic vision of an achievable society, one in which problems and conflict exist, but are resolved peacefully and without bitterness. In the Beloved Community, caring and compassion drive political policies that support the worldwide elimination of poverty and hunger and all forms of bigotry and violence. The Beloved Community is a state of heart and mind a spirit of hope and goodwill that transcends all boundaries and barriers and embraces all creation. At its core, the Beloved Community is an engine of reconciliation. This way of living seems a long way from the kind of world we have now, but I do believe it is a goal that can be accomplished through courage and determination, and through education and training, if enough people are willing to make the necessary commitment.

May our hearts and minds be filled this week with this spirit of hope and may we work to create a Beloved Community in our families, communities, and Meeting.

Grace and peace,

Bob

Joys & Concerns

We’d like to welcome Chrissy S as the new Clerk of Christian Education. Thank you for serving, Chrissy!

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

Babysitting Co-Op ~ Our babysitting co-op is happening Saturday August 27, 4:30 – 8:30, hosted by Tiffany Beaver and Beth Henricks. Dinner will be provided for the kids. Please contact the office if you would like to have your kids join in the fun that evening!

Are You Interested In Gleaning? ~ The Shalom Zone is trying to find out whether there are folks in our Shalom Zone churches who have an interest in gleaning crops. Gleaning is the process of walking through a farmer’s field and picking up produce left behind by machines that harvest the crops. The “gleaned produce” can then be donated to a food pantry or other organization who can use it. Notice of a gleaning event is typically short...a few days to perhaps a week. The farms are usually located in counties adjacent to Marion County. We would anticipate that we would meet at First Friends and ride together to the gleaning location. If you would be interested in helping with gleaning, please notify the First Friends office. Our thought is to develop an email list of interested folks to use when gleaning opportunities arise. Notice can then quickly be sent out to determine whether there are folks who are able to help for a particular gleaning event that arises. Think of this opportunity as something that can not only provide food for the needy, but great exercise! Thanks for your consideration.

The Stamp team invites you to help assemble a jigsaw puzzle with a Love stamp theme. It is set up in Fellowship Hall. Come by and fit a piece in, or stay and work for a while. Or just admire the bright colors. It will be fun to watch it take shape. You might enjoy seeing your favorite past Love stamps in the puzzle. If you’d like to join the fun $tamping for Dollar$ team (which benefits Right Sharing of World Resources), contact the office.

Unheard Voices in Christianity ~ In the study group for Early Christian Writings, we found that there were many voices that have not been heard as Christianity developed its orthodoxy. Many of the women in who were instrumental in the early Jesus movement were under-emphasized or written out of the story altogether. If we are indeed created in God's image male and female, it is important for us to pay attention in the women in the Bible and other Christian writings. In our next round of study, we will pay attention to these women of the Bible and other important unheard or less known voices in Christianity.

Mark your Calendar: 2022 Fall Kickoff! ~ We are excited for this year’s fall kickoff which will begin on Sunday, September 11th. Everyone is invited to wear your pajamas at the Meetinghouse that day! Sunday School classes will start at 9:00am and we will serve breakfast starting at 9:30am. The Seeking Friends adult Sunday School class will be led by Bob Henry. The choir will also meet starting at 9:00am. At this time, there will be no Sunday school for children or youth. We hope to see everyone that day in their pajamas for a fun day! Please join us.

USFW Annual Fall Retreat: Abounding in Hope ~ You’re invited to the Midwest Region United Society of Friends Women (USFW)’s Annual Fall Retreat, which will take place Monday-Tuesday, September 12-13 at Quaker Haven in Syracuse, Indiana. The theme is “Abounding in Hope” and will be led by Sylvia Graves Beane. There will be Opportunities for worship, fellowship, reflection and prayer. Because of COVID, masks will be required and all attenders will be asked to have a negative COVID test before arriving. The cost is $75 and includes accommodation and 3 meals. For more information and for the registration form, see their flyer here.

If you would be willing to help with the booth, contact the office.

2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat: Kaleidoscope - The Magic of a Subtle Shift ~ Ladies, you’re invited to the 2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat! It will be Friday September 23rd beginning at 5:00 p.m. through 11:00 on Sunday Sept 25th. Rachel Doll O’Mahoney, the new pastor at Valley Mill Friends will be our retreat leader. We will gather at the Benedictine Center in Beech Grove and the Center will provide rooms and meals. We will gather together to talk about our lives the past 2 years and how our experiences are shaping our future. We will have workshops, free time, meals together and some fun activities. We invite you to reserve your spot by contacting the office. The following is the pricing for 2 nights, 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and one lunch:

Single room with private bath - $187
Single room with common bath - $158
Double room with private bath - $129
Double room with common bath - $117

Comment

Friend to Friend August 10, 2022

August 11, 2022

This is a rather busy week in the Henry household. Not only is it Sue’s first full week of teaching, two of our boys will be heading to Indiana University on Sunday to become roommates for the school year. That means a lot of last-minute trips to Target and figuring out how we are going to get all their stuff in our van. Someone on Facebook this week mentioned that parents are currently releasing their young adults to the next leg of their life journeys. I like that idea, probably because a journey is how I have come to describe my own life.

During my morning walk on Monday, I was listening to Marcus Borg’s book, Days of Awe and Wonder. In it he describes the Christian life as not just about believing, but also as a journey. I found Borg’s description to be a universal truth whether we are going off to college or living our daily lives. Here is what Borg said,

To be on a journey is to be in movement. Moving from place to place – there is change in such a life. A journey is a process that involves our whole being. It involves our feet as well as our minds and our heads. A journey involves following a path or a way. To be on a journey is not to be wondering aimlessly., though there may be times when it feels like that; people have gone on this journey before us, and there is a trial, and path, a way that we are called to. The journey image suggests that the Christian life is more like following a path than it is about believing things with our mind.
A journey also involves a leaving, a departing, a setting out. It involves leaving home.

Whether leaving home is getting in your car and going to work in the morning or packing up your parent’s van and moving to college, each time we step out it offers us a plethora of possibilities. Borg closes by offering this:

We are invited to make that journey, that journey of faith, in which we learn to trust our relationship to God, learn to be faithful to that relationship, and learn to see in a new way. We will be led in that journey into an ever more wonderous and compassionate understanding of our lives with God.

Enjoy the journey this week in grace and peace,

Bob

Joys & Concerns

A big thank you to the 27 volunteers that spent part of their Saturday July 30th at the Dairy Bar at the Indiana State Fair. The Dairy Association sends us a check for $1600 for our participation there and we use this to help fund our youth activities. Thank you to the following folks: Lucy K, Sophie H, Phil G, Deb G, Tiffany B, Kevin F, Jim D, Carol D, James P, Halee P, Eric T, Erin T, Breda R, Selina G, Kathy R, Susan R, Mick V, Janis C, Jody L, Corinne I, Ray K, Kwali T, Jesse S , Sarah S, Deb S, and Barbara K. Thank you all!

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

SUNDAY FUNDAY! Friends, we hope you will join us for our annual Sunday Funday, which will take place this Sunday, August 14 after a special outdoor Meeting for Worship. Afterward we will share in our annual picnic and Sunday Funday with a bounce house, slip-n-slide, and games! Please bring a lawn chair for yourself if able. We’re also asking people to bring dishes to share! For last names A-J, please bring salad or side; and for last names K – Z, please bring dessert. We hope you will join us for this fun time of fellowship!

We are also excited to welcome our guest speaker for the day, Bridget Moix, General Secretary of Friends Committee on National Legislation!

Bridget Moix is the fifth General Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL). She also leads two other Quaker organizations, affiliated with FCNL: Friends Place on Capitol Hill and FCNL Education Fund.

While serving primarily as an ambassador for FCNL and its vision, Bridget also ensures that all aspects of the organization are sustained and nourished. She supports a staff of 63 and a full legislative agenda based on the regular discernment of more than 200 Quaker meetings and churches around the country. Bridget joined FCNL in January 2022. She brings with her 25 years of work on international peace and conflict issues, with a focus on US foreign policy. Prior to joining FCNL, she served as US Executive Director of Peace Direct (2015-2021).

Bridget lives in Washington, D.C., with her two sons who nurture and challenge her peacebuilding skills every day. As a convinced Quaker, she is a member of Friends Meeting of Washington, Baltimore Yearly Meeting, and attends Mexico City Monthly Meeting (virtually).

Help Washington Township Students ~ Teachers and school social workers in Washington Township are collecting “back to school” items for some of their kids. Needed items are as follows: 1) Pencils, 2) Zip pencil bags for 3 ring notebooks, 3) Folders with 3 holes, 4) Spiral notebooks. First Friends (and the other Shalom Zone churches) will be collecting such items through August 14. Please place items in the box in the foyer of the meetinghouse. Thanks for your support. Also, a big “THANK YOU!” to those who contributed items to our previous Washington Township school collection effort.

SUMMER SING-A-LONG! Come join Jim, Jesse, and many Friendly noisemakers for a sing-a-long on Friday, August 12, 7pm, in Fellowship Hall. Bring your favorite percussion instruments. Some will be provided to share. Warm up those voices and join us!

Unheard Voices in Christianity ~ In the study group for Early Christian Writings, we found that there were many voices that have not been heard as Christianity developed its orthodoxy. Many of the women in who were instrumental in the early Jesus movement were under-emphasized or written out of the story altogether. If we are indeed created in God's image male and female, it is important for us to pay attention in the women in the Bible and other Christian writings. In our next round of study, we will pay attention to these women of the Bible and other important unheard or less known voices in Christianity.

From the Woods- this has been a difficult summer for our trees and plants due to the hot, dry weeks in July. We are witnessing the changes in our climate due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. An exciting bill is now before the House to help reduce inflation and encourage a transition to lower carbon in the air. See this newsletter from the Evangelical Environmental Network to see why this bill is important and why we encourage you to call your congressional representative and urge them to vote YES.

IFCL is encouraging every eligible to vote to register to vote and if registered, check to make sure your registration is up to date. You must be registered to vote by Monday, October 11, 2022. A democracy is dependent on people voting and making their voices heard. We believe having a balanced general assembly is better for democracy and for civil discourse. Check to see who is on the ballot for your district, as some districts have recently changed. https://www.in.gov/sos/elections/

The First Friends Thursday night Bible study invites you to study the book Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job: Three Ways of Wisdom for thirteen weeks beginning August 25. The book is in the Illuminate series, which was recommended by Bob Henry. Contact the office if you'd like to participate in this small group, or even if you'd like join only occasionally. The study meets by Zoom every Thursday at 7:30 pm. From the website: "These books of wisdom help readers consider life’s big questions of meaning, purpose, and the existence of suffering. Readers are encouraged to grow in wisdom and to avoid folly, and there's a promise offered—that by seeking wisdom, we will be guided into righteousness. This path is not free from suffering, but God is present, and we can find joy in the moments we have. Journey through these books to discover three aspects of biblical wisdom and reflect on how God is leading you in the way of wisdom today."

You’re Invited to the Indiana Water Summit ~ The Indiana Water Summit is an apolitical and inclusive annual forum developed to examine the complex interests and issues that face our water supply. The Summit’s subject matter seeks to remain consistent with and build upon current legislative actions in order to provide a broad planning perspective, weaving together diverse topics that together demonstrate the interdependency of water issues and the science behind the state of the waters. The summit will take place September 7th & 8th at the Athenaeum in downtown Indianapolis. Early bird registration ends this Friday, August 12! For more information and to sign up, visit https://thewhiteriveralliance.org/programs/water-summit.

2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat: Kalaediscope - Exploring from New Angles ~ Ladies, you’re invited to the 2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat! It will be Friday September 23rd beginning at 5:00 p.m. through 11:00 on Sunday Sept 25th. Rachel Doll O’Mahoney, the new pastor at Valley Mill Friends will be our retreat leader. We will gather at the Benedictine Center in Beech Grove and the Center will provide rooms and meals. We will gather together to talk about our lives the past 2 years and how our experiences are shaping our future. We will have workshops, free time, meals together and some fun activities. We invite you to reserve your spot by contacting the office. The following is the pricing for 2 nights, 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and one lunch:

Single room with private bath - $187
Single room with common bath - $158
Double room with private bath - $129
Double room with common bath - $117

If you would be willing to help with the booth, contact the office.

Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for August

Indigo Bunting: Seeing Is Believing…or Is It?

This time of year I love encountering male Indigo Buntings. These little jewels, although common, bring color to our summer landscape and our meditational woods. What color is the bird, really? Indigo is a shade that falls between blue and purple, and in spite of ROY G. BIV, some have argued that rainbows do not have a band of indigo color. There is not room here for the story of the indigo plant, slavery, and the refusal of some early Quakers to wear blue-colored cloth. The story I want to relate is about the true color of this bird. It is NOT blue (or indigo). The feathers that appear bluish are actually black!! While shoveling snow, have you ever noticed a hint of light blue color in the snow that will be the next shovelful? Have you ever seen the wall at the edge of a glacier that appears bluish? It is an optical illusion. There is no blue pigment in the snow or ice. What you see is the result of light striking the crystal structure, and being reflected into our eyes. The cells in the feathers of the bunting do the same thing, resulting in our perception of color. Indigo Buntings do have black wings and a black tail, and the head is a darker “blue” than the rest of the bird. Females are a grayish, milk-chocolate brown.

The song of the male Indigo Bunting is a series of paired notes on different pitches, sometimes ending with a triad of notes: “Fire, fire! Where, where? Here, here! See it, see it? Put it out!! We can debate whether it REALLY says that, or is simply our perception of the song. Hearing is believing?

- Photos and story by Brad J

This Week’s Queries

· What questions do I need to be asking about life?

· When do I find time to pause and reflect?

· Who could I work alongside and collaborate with?

· Who should I be serving, caring for, and helping?

· And how am I helping create a culture of respect at First Friends, in my family, and in my community?

Comment

Friend to Friend August 3, 2022

August 3, 2022

As Way Opens

This past Sunday, Bob gave a message that was inspired by an episode of some of the best Super Soul Sundays, Oprah Winfrey’s show discussing faith and the meaning of life with theologians, pastors, writers and others. Bob shared a question that the movie critic Gene Siskel once asked Oprah that greatly impacted her life and her journey. The question was “What do you know for certain”?

I’ve been thinking about this question ever since Sunday. We hear so many viewpoints today that come across with great certainty. In an age dominated by social media, information and disinformation is available with the click of a button and it seems that viewpoints and opinions can often masquerade as facts.

Many churches declare truth and tell parishioners what the right things are to believe. There is no room for doubt or for our Quaker tradition of queries. Church doctrine can seem like settled law and one must believe a certain way to be a part of the group. This is what I love about the Quakers. They are not afraid of questions, queries, doubts and in fact welcome them as part of the spiritual journey.

I shared out of the silence on Sunday that my son Greg has two tattoos. He got them in a very dark period in his life. The first one was a saying and belief of his dad Jerry. The phrase is “God is Love”. The second one was a mantra from his best friend Marshall who was killed on a trip to Vietnam. His phrase is "Be Here Now”. These two phrases are from two of the most important men in Greg’s life. I think he had the right idea to have them permanently etched on his arm to remind him everyday what he knows for certain. There is so much I don’t know in this world but I know with everything in me that God is Love and that I need to embrace each moment and live and love in the fullest way that I can today.

Beth

Joys & Concerns

Our VBS was featured in the Center for Congregations Newsletter! The most recent Center for Congregations Newsletter highlighted our own VBS program! You can check it out here!

Terry T had successful hip replacement last week. She is doing well resting at home and would appreciate cards of support.

Fire Destroys the Lindi School in Kibera Slum ~ Friends throughout our beloved community are grieving with Friends in Nairobi, Kenya, following a traumatic fire on the evening of Sunday, 24 July, that destroyed the Lindi School building. While the school building is a complete loss, we are grateful that there was no loss of life and the fire did not spread beyond the school compound. The cause of the fire remains unknown. Given that the fire destroyed all books, school supplies, kitchen equipment, and furnishings, FUM has released $9000 from the Solidarity Fund to provide an immediate response. Friends who want to support this emergency response are invited to contribute online or by check to Friends United Meeting, Solidarity Fund. Friends can contribute online at https://www.friendsunitedmeeting.org/global-ministries/solidarity-fund or mail a check to 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, IN 47374.

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

SAVE THE DATE: SUNDAY FUNDAY! Friends, please mark your calendar for our annual Sunday Funday, which will take place on Sunday, August 14 after a special outdoor Meeting for Worship. We are also excited to welcome our guest speaker for the day, Bridget Moix, General Secretary of Friends Committee on National Legislation! Afterward we will share in our annual picnic and Sunday Funday with a bounce house, slip-n-slide, and games! Please bring a lawn chair for yourself if able. We’re also asking people to bring dishes to share! For last names A-J, please bring salad or side; and for last names K – Z, please bring dessert. We hope you will join us for this fun time of fellowship!

Online Fellowship Hour ~ Friends, please note that as of this Sunday, there will be no more online Fellowship Hour. We will still, as always, continue to meet in person in Fellowship Hall after Meeting for Worship. Also, the online version of the service on our YouTube Channel will still continue to be available weekly.

Restorative Yoga: DATE CHANGE ~ Please join friend Kristyn G in a restorative yoga practice session. Please note, due to changes in her schedule, Kristyn will now offer yoga once a month. The next session will be Monday, August 8th at 4pm in Fellowship Hall. Each session will last for an hour. This gentle practice will stretch and restore you. $10 suggested donation. Hope to see you there!

The First Friends Thursday night Bible study invites you to study the book Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job: Three Ways of Wisdom for thirteen weeks beginning August 25. The book is in the Illuminate series, which was recommended by Bob H. Contact the office if you'd like to participate in this small group, or even if you'd like join only occasionally. The study meets by Zoom every Thursday at 7:30 pm. From the website: "These books of wisdom help readers consider life’s big questions of meaning, purpose, and the existence of suffering. Readers are encouraged to grow in wisdom and to avoid folly, and there's a promise offered—that by seeking wisdom, we will be guided into righteousness. This path is not free from suffering, but God is present, and we can find joy in the moments we have. Journey through these books to discover three aspects of biblical wisdom and reflect on how God is leading you in the way of wisdom today."

2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat! ~ Ladies, save the date for the 2022 First Friends Women’s Retreat! It will be Friday September 23rd beginning at 5:00 p.m. through 11:00 on Sunday Sept 25th. We will share meals, have fellowship and food together, provide opportunities to reflect on the struggles/losses/opportunities/riches of the past 2.5 years as well as offering several workshops. Rachel Doll O’Mahoney, the new pastor at Valley Mill Friends will be our retreat leader. We will gather at the Benedictine Center in Beech Grove and the Center will provide rooms and meals. Our previous retreats have been a rich time of connection and community. This is a retreat that is trans inclusive/LGBTQ supportive.

To get ahead today, you have to be a jerk, right?

Wrong.

We will gather in the parlor simultaneously with Zoom starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 led by Mary B.

Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for August

Indigo Bunting: Seeing Is Believing…or Is It?

- Photos and story by Brad J

This Week’s Queries

· As Quakers do you and I have interrogative souls?

· Are we allowing the Spirit to use the queries presented to us to rip us up, lay us open, and make manifest what is truly in our souls?

· Are we utilizing the gifts we have been given to critically think or are we simply blindly following those in leadership before us?

· Do we spend more time scrutinizing others instead of first scrutinizing our own souls?

· What do you know for sure?

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Friend to Friend July 27, 2022

July 27, 2022

As Way Opens

This past week before I became sick and had to stay home for the second half of the Western Yearly Meeting Sessions, I had a conversation with a fellow pastor about how technology has continued to change the nature of pastoral ministry (as well as society in general).

Most people don’t know how accessible we have become in the last few years. Not only can we now Zoom into meetings from just about anywhere, but smart phones, text messaging, Facebook Messenger, and a plethora of new apps keep us accessible 24-7 – that is if we do not set some boundaries.

As we were talking about this, we both shared stories of being contacted after 10pm by people who messaged us on Facebook. It used to be that people wouldn’t pick up a phone and call after 9pm, but texting and messaging has completely changed that. Also, with Zoom there is no reason for people to miss meetings anymore. You can be on vacation, on a business trip, even in a remote area, and still find a way to Zoom in. Even during this year’s WYM sessions, I became sick, and continued to participate from my bed at home.

The query that has been running through my mind is: How is technology allowing us the opportunity to heal, to rest, to have needed down time?

Often before my day officially begins, I am having very important conversations with people, doing spiritual counseling, even helping people through difficult situations through some aspect of technology. These can start before I get out of bed in the morning. Just a decade ago this was not the case. I would go through my morning routine, exercise, shower, and meditate, and then start my day when I arrived at work. Sure, there are many benefits to our accessibility, but there are also many disadvantages.

Allan Lokos says it so well, “Technology offers us a unique opportunity, though rarely welcome, to practice patience.” As I spoke of a week ago in my sermon, I have been learning to practice more patience and to set better boundaries since technology is a key component in our patience struggle. Take some time this week and see where technology is making you impatient and stealing your time for healing and rest.

Grace and peace,

Bob

Joys & Concerns

We were overjoyed that we had 19 kids from our Meeting attend Quaker Haven Camp! This is the highest number of kids we’ve had there in years and we are so glad to see them take advantage of this opportunity. We were able to give each child a partial scholarship thanks to generous donors like YOU! Thank you to all who give to First Friends to make ministries like this possible.

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

Indiana Peace & Justice Center Speaker Event ~ IPJC is delighted to invite you to our July 27th Speakers Event: “Four Friends Hit the Road! Report of a Week in DC including the Moral March on Washington, June 18, 2022.” Four friends from Indianapolis (Kay Tawney, Suzanne O’Shea, Mike Przybylski, and Steve Tilden) took a road trip to attend Reverend Barber’s Poor People’s Campaign Moral March on Washington, and have a little fun along the way. Join us for a few stories, a few pictures, and snacks. The event will take place tonight, July 27th, 2022 at 7:00 pm at North United Methodist Church, 3808 N Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46208. Refreshments will be provided.

FUM and WYM Projects for 2022

The Quaker umbrella organizations, Friends United Meeting (“FUM”) and Western Yearly Meeting (“WYM”) each promote a fundraiser each year to assist in their mission work around the world. Here are the projects for 2022.

WYM: The WYM project is to raise $15,000 to help purchase a good used 4x4 vehicle for Friends Theological College, located in Kenya. The vehicle will be used to 1) transport students who go out to preach and work in the villages, and 2) to haul food, supplies, and other resources as needed. The total vehicle cost is estimated to be $45,000 – $49,000.

FUM: The FUM project is to “cultivate seeds of new life” for its various missions. Such missions include 1) the work of Getry Agizah who serves as Programme Coordinator in the Africa Ministry Office, 2) the work of Nicholas and Dorcas Otieno, FUM Living Letter missionaries serving in Tanzania, and 3) the pastoral ministry of Oscar Mmbali who has initiated outreach programs in Belize in connection with the Belize Friends School.

This is the one time during the year that First Friends promotes a fundraiser for Quaker missions outside the United States. Checks can be made out to First Friends with the notation “WYM Project” or “FUM Project” or you can donate securely on our website at https://www.indyfriends.org/support (choose “WYM Project” or “FUM Project” as the fund). Please note that the last day to give for these fundraisers is July 31!! Thank you for whatever support you are able to provide to these worthwhile projects.

SAVE THE DATE: SUNDAY FUNDAY! Friends, please mark your calendar for our annual Sunday Funday, which will take place on Sunday, August 14 after a special outdoor Meeting for Worship. We will share in our annual picnic, and have fun with a bounce house, slip-n-slide, and games! Please bring a lawn chair for yourself if able. We hope you will join us for this fun time of fellowship!

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Friend to Friend July 20, 2022

July 20, 2022

As Way Opens

I’ve been sharing my excitement about the nest that a pair of cardinals built just outside my screened-in porch in a high bush. After the flurry of activity creating the nest, 3 eggs were laid and the mama cardinal faithfully sat on the eggs every day. Weeks went by and there were no baby cardinals, just eggs. The mother continued to cover the eggs with the warmth of her body and I kept hoping something good would come out of this. It’s now been 7 weeks and no babies. I did a little research and cardinals incubate from 12-20 days so it’s pretty clear there will be no babies. I felt kind of crushed. There was something so intimate and hopeful to observe the preparation and commitment from the cardinals to their future offspring.

I had to process my disappointment to accept these eggs were not going to hatch. Every morning I still go out on the porch and hope maybe a miracle has occurred. I wonder if the mama cardinal feels the same way as she still will come and sit on the eggs for short periods of time. But she is coming less frequently and we both realize that there are no baby birds that will emerge from the eggs.

This experience reminded me of the times our hopes are dashed from outcomes we pray for, claim, anticipate and cling to. Maybe it’s recovery from illness, a broken relationship healed, a new job etc. Sometimes our prayers are answered and sometimes they are not. As Victoria Loorz, writer of Church of the Wild says “wilderness is not all fuzzy fawns sleeping in your garden. Wilderness is also fierce and disinterested. The powerful elements of storm and fire and earthquake causes indiscriminate devastation to all beings in their paths.” When it feels like prayers are not answered we feel a sense of the indiscriminate devastation. But as the mama cardinal is showing me, we need to keep showing up, keep working, keep hoping, praying and loving and release our wanting to control our desired outcome. We should return to the nest and then keep flying and living.

Beth

Joys & Concerns

New Mid-North Food Pantry Program! Due to the recent generous support of First Friends, the Mid North Food Pantry has just started a partnership with Indy Hunger Network Cooking Matters program to share recipes and teach participants how to use specific foods. The participants watch the cooking demonstration, participate in chopping and preparation and then will receive all the food to make the recipe that day. Several of us participated in the inaugural gathering today and are excited about the potential of this program that will begin the first Wednesday of August and will be held weekly after that.

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

There will be no Threshing Together in July due to Western Yearly Meeting annual session.

WYM Annual Sessions this Weekend! We hope you plan to join Western Yearly Meeting (WYM)’s annual sessions this year. They will be held both online and in person starting this Friday, July 22. As usual, the sessions will conclude on Sunday July 24 with worship from 10am-12pm featuring speaker Paul Anderson. This year’s theme is “Better Together in Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13). You can find details including the schedule on the Western Yearly Meeting website. You’re also invited to join us for worship on Sunday at 10:00am either in person at Western Yearly Meeting in Plainfield or online (be sure to click the video for Sunday at 10am). If you’d like links to any of the online sessions, please contact the office at office@indyfriends.org or reach out to the WYM office at office@westernyearlymeeting.org or 317-839-2789.

PLEASE NOTE: First Friends will only have Unprogrammed Worship at the Meetinghouse on July 24th to encourage everyone to participate in the WYM service in Plainfield mentioned above. The WYM service will also be available by livestream on YouTube here (be sure to click the video for Sunday at 10am). For those who wish to worship at our Meetinghouse, there will be unprogrammed worship in the Meetingroom (note the location correction) at 10:15. Thank you to Mary Blackburn for leading us in worship that day!

Garden Giveaway ~ Last Sunday: happy plants, happy people! Homeless plants sat on the kitchen counter waiting for helping hands and comfortable beds where they could stretch out after being root-bound in tiny planter cups. They were leftovers from the Community Garden. Lucky gardeners-to-be or gardeners adding to their crops, took home the eggplants. Soon fingerling fruit will drip from the plants, ready to be picked and added to creative and scrumptious dishes. Mmmm! (Pictured left: Kian is excited about the newcomers firmly planted in his home garden. Eggplant, anyone?)

Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us from virtually anywhere in the world as we discuss The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (304 pages)

Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?

A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

We will gather in the Parlor via Zoom starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, July 26, 2022 led by Cindy K.

Restorative Yoga: DATE CHANGE ~ Please join friend Kristyn G in a restorative yoga practice session. Please note, due to changes in her schedule, Kristyn will now offer yoga once a month. The next session will be Monday, August 8th at 4pm in Fellowship Hall (please note there will be no yoga on Monday July 25th). Each session will last for an hour. This gentle practice will stretch and restore you. $10 suggested donation. If you have any questions, reach out to Kristyn at her cellular number 317-409-2116 by text or call. Hope to see you there!

Indiana Peace & Justice Center Speaker Event ~ IPJC is delighted to invite you to our July 27th Speakers Event: “Four Friends Hit the Road! Report of a Week in DC including the Moral March on Washington, June 18, 2022.” Four friends from Indianapolis (Kay Tawney, Suzanne O’Shea, Mike Przybylski, and Steve Tilden) took a road trip to attend Reverend Barber’s Poor People’s Campaign Moral March on Washington, and have a little fun along the way. Join us for a few stories, a few pictures, and snacks. The event will take place July 27th, 2022 at 7:00 pm at North United Methodist Church, 3808 N Meridian St, Indianapolis, IN 46208. Refreshments will be provided.

FUM and WYM Projects for 2022

Glass Recycling Explained! Many people have wondered, “Should I recycle glass or does it just go to the dump?” Glass jars make great storage containers and are healthier than plastics. But when it’s time for glass to move on, read about the importance of recycled glass in the Hoosier economy. At the end of the article, there is a link to how to properly recycle glass. https://www.circularindiana.org/post/glass-recycling-explained.

This Week’s Queries

· In what sort of situations do I find myself most impatient?

· Why am I impatient, and how do I deal with my impatience?

· What groups, people, organizations, etc. cause me to be impatient?

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Friend to Friend July 13, 2022

July 13, 2022

As Way Opens

Since just after I arrived at First Friends, William Armitage has been attending our Meeting. Most people would recognize William, yet because of his appearance and often awkward approach many would avoid getting to know him. For the last several months, William has had some difficult health issues which put him in the hospital on numerous occasions for extended periods of time. Just before I went on vacation, William was released from the hospital after about a month and a half battling pneumonia and anxiety disorders. The week I returned I was planning to visit William at his apartment, but our call revealed that he was back in the hospital. The day before my visit, we received the shocking news that William had passed away.

The news of William’s passing has not only troubled me but has been heart breaking. For the last couple of years I have grown to know William, as much as he would allow. Most people know that William rode his bike everywhere. He told me on a trip to the doctor once, that he rides his bike 40 miles a day and has the roads in Indy memorized better than my GPS. It was true. Not bad for a man with serious health issues and in his upper 70s. As well, many thought William was homeless. That is not true. He lived in a modest apartment a few miles from the Meetinghouse with a nice landlord that looked out for him. I had the opportunity to visit his apartment to retrieve some items while he was in the hospital. Even though, William owned no furniture, not even a bed - he actually slept on the floor in a closet, he grew many plants, had bicycles he was rehabbing to give to other people, and he had a plethora of books and paintings. His apartment helped me understand some of the things he liked to do around the Meetinghouse.

On most Thursdays William would ride his bike to the Meetinghouse to make some phone calls, because of his condition he could not press the buttons on the phone and asked Rebecca or me to dial. William did not own a phone, computer, or car. While he was at the Meetinghouse, he always checked on the trees around the property, watered the flowers inside and outside the building, and always was sharing with us ways to save money or avoid future problems. On occasion William would stop in my office to bring me a long letter he wrote me about my sermon or the most recent business meeting. It always took a while to read them, because his hands would shake as he wrote. Most of the time, everything that he wrote checked out and was extremely wise. That may be because at one time William was a professor like his mother before him. Just recently, we learned that his family was from Muncie, Indiana, where he is to be buried next to his mother.

Once as I was transporting William to have some cancer removed from his eyelid, he shared with me how much First Friends meant to him. In his own way, William explained that he considered First Friends his only family. Almost every Sunday, William would sit in the balcony, sometimes fighting sleep, join us for fellowship hour, and on occasion would have some poignant questions during business meetings.

The last time I dropped William off at his apartment was after his eye-lid cancer removal. He asked that I not leave because he had something to give me. As he returned to my car, I snapped a photo (see attached). William brought down a couple bags of shoes he was giving to Changing Footprints, extra bags for the Food Pantry, and he even purchased a watering can for our Meeting because the one he always used disappeared.

I have told Beth Henricks on numerous occasions, that I believe William was Jesus in our midst. I saw that of God in William. I am grateful that he trusted and allowed me into some of the most intimate moments of the end of his life. I pray that William has finally found peace in his soul. I already miss William and his passing leaves an empty space in our community.

Grace and peace,

Bob

Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities

Guest Rania Maayeh Coming Soon! We hope you’ll join us on Sunday July 17th when Rania Maaveh, current head of the Ramallah Friends School, will be joining us! During Meeting for Worship. She will be giving a presentation, and then will meet in Fellowship Hall after the service to answer questions and chat.

In 2021, Rania Maayeh was appointed by Friends United Meeting to be the head of the Ramallah Friends School, a pre-K - 12th grade co-educational Quaker school in Ramallah, Palestine. Serving 1,500 students, the School was founded in 1869 as a training institute for girls during Ottoman Turkish rule when opportunities for girls' education was limited. A boys school was founded in 1901, and the two campuses now comprise the united Friends School, currently under Israeli military occupation. Rania is a graduate of the Friends Girls School and formerly taught at the FGS before a long career with World Vision.

Rania's and her husband Suheil's son Walid is a recent graduate of Guilford College and the Earlham School of Religion and presently is on staff at Guilford with the Every Campus a Refuge program. With her family, Rania attends the Ramallah Friends Meeting.

Lewis H and his parents would like to thank the people of First Friends who came to his Graduation Party on Saturday. It was a perfect day to celebrate and be together. Lewis greatly appreciates all the gifts, as they will be helpful in launching his academic career in the Nursing program at Indiana University. Thank you!

There will be no Threshing Together in July due to Western Yearly Meeting annual session.

Words from the Woods ~ The high temperatures with minimal rain continue. Give your plants and trees planted within the last 3 years a hearty soaking. If the leaves start to droop, give them some refreshing water. Keep your bird baths filled and clean. The birds and insects need some water in these dry times.

These hot temperatures are due to human caused climate change. Be sure and call your senators ask to support legislation that reduces our dependence on energy produced by fossil fuels. It’s good for God’s creation and good for national security.

Let AESIndiana know that as customers, AES needs to change its plan to shut down one of the superpolluter power plants at Petersburg by 2030, not 2042. They are already planning to close it at the end of its lifespan, but scientists tell us that strong action needs to occur in this decade to avoid the worst outcomes from a hot planet.

Here is this month’s HortusScope: a Central Indiana monthly newsletter put out by Wendy Ford. July HortusScope.

Also, tell congress- we need climate action now!

WYM Annual Session Registration Is Open! Everyone is invited to join Western Yearly Meeting (WYM)’s annual sessions. They will be held both online and in person starting Friday, July 22. As usual, the sessions will conclude on Sunday July 24 with worship from 10am-12pm featuring speaker Paul Anderson. This year’s theme is “Better Together in Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13). More information will be coming, but for now you can find details on the Western Yearly Meeting website. If you have questions, please reach out to the WYM office at office@westernyearlymeeting.org or 317-839-2789.

PLEASE NOTE: First Friends will only have Unprogrammed Worship at the Meetinghouse on July 24th to encourage everyone to participate in the WYM service in Plainfield. The service will be available by zoom also and we will send a link out to everyone next week.

Meditational Woods Bird of the Month for July

Baltimore Oriole: Lord Baltimore’s Bird

The species was there to greet the early settlers arriving in the colonies. In Maryland, the colony set aside for those adhering to the Roman Catholic faith, folks identified the black and yellow-orange plumage of this bird with the colors in the Calvert family crest (shield). This family bore the title, “Lord Baltimore,” and was the founding family of the colony. The bird was known as “Lord Baltimore’s Bird”. The colors also reminded them of a bird back in Southern England and Europe known as the Golden Oriole. So there you have it. Lord Baltimore’s Bird became Lord Baltimore’s Oriole, and then simply the Baltimore Oriole. One can see the Calvert family black-and-orange pattern in both the flag and license plate of Maryland.

This species summers in our Meditational Woods, possibly nesting there or nearby. It is known for its wonderfully clear whistled song, its preference for sycamore trees (which are in our woods), and it’s strange but marvelously woven bag-like nest, suspended from the twigs of a tree.

It does seem rather un-Quakerly though. Not the habits, but the naming business. Early Friends refrained from recognizing the reigning nobility, and the titles and authority associated with it. Quaker men often got in trouble for not doffing their hats in the presence of “his Lordship.” Here we have a bird named for a lord. Perhaps Friends encouraged the name change which dropped the title. As a Quaker, I can get past the name, and appreciate the color, song, and nest of this fabulous creature.

Restorative Yoga ~ Please join friend Kristyn G in a restorative yoga practice session on Monday July 25th in Fellowship Hall. Each session will last for an hour. This gentle practice will stretch and restore you. $10 suggested donation. If you have any questions, reach out to Kristyn at her cellular number 317-409-2116 by text or call. Hope to see you there!

Sign Up for the Dairy Bar Now! First Friends will be working at the Dairy Bar again at the Indiana State Fair on Saturday, July 30th all day. We still need a few volunteers for the morning shift 9:00 – 3:30. Volunteers will get free ice cream and sandwiches! If you’d like to volunteer, please contact Beth H. This is a major fundraiser for our youth programming, so please consider volunteering!

Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading would like you to join us from virtually anywhere in the world as we discuss The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (304 pages)

A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.

We will gather in the Parlor via Zoom starting at 7 pm EST on Tuesday, July 26, 2022 led by Cindy K.

FUM and WYM Projects for 2022

This is the one time during the year that First Friends promotes a fundraiser for Quaker missions outside the United States. Thank you for whatever support you are able to provide to these worthwhile projects.

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