11-10-24 - Engaging Angelic Troublemaking – Baynard Rustin

Engaging Angelic Troublemaking – Baynard Rustin

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

November 10, 2024

Welcome to Light Reflections. Since we record our messages on Wednesday, this recording took place within hours of the election results coming in.  I will be honest, it is not easy for a Quaker pastor with strong convictions to give a message at this juncture, but I clearly sensed the Spirit’s leading of what to say after having conversations will fellow pastors and Friends. 

The scripture I have chosen for this day is 2 Corinthians 4:8-12 from The Message version.

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

Last Sunday, we had a wonderful time of worship, but clearly there was something weighing heavily on all our minds and hearts. I know many of us are now in fear, scared for family and friends, and stunned or shocked by how this week played out. I know much of what I am going to say this morning will go unheard because of all that weighs on our hearts. So, I give you the permission to turn this off and go be with trusted friends and loved ones who support and love you.  We must take care of ourselves so we can stay strong and work for change.

Also, I know many of you realize that there is a new urgency.  So, I hope that what I am going to say this morning is both helpful and inspiring for those ready to act.  

I sat down on Monday morning knowing that I had chosen Bayard Rustin as the historic Quaker that I wanted to share about this morning. I think I picked Bayard as he is a favorite character of mine in Quaker history, and someone I thought might have something to say to us on the Sunday after the election. 

If you have been at First Friends for some time, you have heard me tell different parts of Bayard Rustin’s story in several of my messages, or maybe you joined us for our viewing of the Netflix movie, Rustin, which specifically highlighted his masterful, behind the scenes, organizing of the March on Washington where Dr. King shared his dream. 

No movie or sermon could encompass the life and legacy of the man who coined the term “Speak Truth to Power” for which this sermon series is titled. 

Early this week as I started to sense my anxiety growing about the election, I began wondering what it must have been like for Bayard Rustin when elections came around. A gay black man in the 60’s, whose sexual orientation was forced into the closet so as not to affect the impact of the Civil Rights Movement that he was masterminding with his friend Martin.  Any wrong move had Bayard jailed, silenced, working on a chain gang, and his life threatened at every moment – and sadly that was first for being black and then for being gay – two things he could not change about himself. 

But every election, every politician chosen, every decision those politicians made, and the authority they and their police enforced, literally changed the course of Bayard’s life in a moment and most of the time for the worse, not the better.

As a white, privileged,  cisgender male I am challenged, but always seeking to better understand all that Bayard had at stake, or for that matter what the black communities and LGBTQ+ folks in our country have at stake, today. 

I do not act as if I can relate or understand, but as a Quaker who believes in equality, I must learn from Bayard Rustin and his legacy and work to not make the mistakes of my ancestors.  To uphold his legacy in which he said, “the primary social function of a religious society is to 'speak truth to power” which I believe is also my call as a pastor of this Meeting of Friends.  

On Monday and Tuesday, I tried hard to channel what Bayard would have been thinking if he would have been alive this week and during this election cycle.  I am sure he would not have been watching TV and just hoping for the best. Rather he would have been hard at work, organizing and gathering others to continue the fight. As well, he would be reminding us once again that he is not safe as a black man, as a gay man, and even as a Quaker who testifies to the SPICES of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship in our country. 

I believe if Bayard was here this morning, he would be calling for what he described as, “Angelic Troublemakers” to rise up – something that his friend John Lewis called making “Good Trouble” or what some historians have categorized as simply “Holy Trouble.”   Meaning that every community should have people who are actively working to disrupt the status quo to create change.  It’s not bad trouble, but rather righteous trouble and done by holy, good, even angelic (divine) people – or as Bayard and Friends believe, people with that of God within them.   

Please understand this call to “angelic troublemaking” often involves making some trouble by actually breaking unjust laws.  And clearly, we are going to be facing some unjust laws in the coming years that are going to affect our neighbors, our loved ones, and fellow Friends - especially women, people of color, minorities, immigrants, and the queer and LGBTQ+ communities.

If you have not already figured this out in this sermon series, Quaker history is brimming full with “Angelic Troublemakers” who have risen to make good trouble, to speak truth to power, and break the oppressive and unjust systems in our country and our world.

Now, once again, it is our time to answer that call.

Let me go back for a moment and share one such story from Bayard Rustin’s life where he exemplified the “Angelic Troublemaker” he would later call us all to become.

In 1942 Bayard Rustin wrote:

“Recently, I was planning to go from Louisville to Nashville by bus. I bought my ticket, boarded the bus, and instead of going to the back, sat down in the second seat. The driver saw me, got up, and came toward me.

‘Hey, you. You’re supposed to sit in the back seat.’

‘Why?’

‘Because that’s the law. Niggers ride in the back.’

I said, “My friend, I believe that is an unjust law. If I were to sit in the back, I would be condoning injustice.’”

This scene repeated at every stop until the driver called the police.

 When the police officers confronted him and demanded that he move, Bayard said:

“I believe that I have a right to sit here. If I sit in the back of the bus I am depriving that child” – I pointed to a little white child of five or six—“of the knowledge that there is an injustice here, which I believe it is his right to know. It is my sincere conviction that the power of love in the world is the greatest power existing. If you have a greater power, my friend, you may move me.’”

This was one of many times Bayard was beaten and arrested for resisting injustice. It took great self-discipline and training for him to intentionally and nonviolently break an unjust law. He went on to train many others in the Civil Rights movement how to break unjust laws in this highly intentional way…

Folks, Bayard is showing us that to be an “Angelic Troublemaker,” often means being called to

·        stand up against tyranny.

·        strive towards equality.

·        face a wrong in the world and fight to make it right, even in the face of a society that swears everything is fine.

Sadly, I can see some of us in this room facing these same conditions and atrocities, very soon. The rhetoric and actions are already in place and people are already fearful, including myself and members of my own family.

But again, I return to the wisdom of Bayard Rustin to help us find a way to begin our response and movement foreword. Bayard would say now is not the time to wait and see or just hope and pray for change, but it is time to act and do something.  

We must begin somewhere in preparing ourselves to Speak Truth to Power as Angelic Troublemakers in our world – and I believe a place for that to begin is right here at First Friends.

Let me share some basic thoughts for where we can begin. By no means is this a formula or all we can do. Please understand, it does NOT have to start by making a public stand or by getting arrested, it can start much smaller, yet must be intentional.

For example, you and I are going to be called in the coming days to take some risks. We may be called to step out of our comfort zones, and be a bit bolder - first within ourselves and then beyond with our friends and neighbors. We will need to dare to reach a bit beyond our usual reach, and step out on a limb that may not feel so secure.  

This will start with “Baby Steps.”  Maybe for you it will start by asking a question or seeking clarification. Speaking up for a friend or colleague. Or it may take a moment to listen to a different perspective, have a difficult conversation, or read a book or article that is outside your comfort zone.    

Whatever you do to take these risks, always remember to bring your values, your skills, your talents, and your voice to a challenge that draws you and your better nature. Bayard Rustin brought his whole self to every effort and that in itself was risky.  

One of the greatest assets you and I have is remembering WHO WE ARE and what we believe, and how that affects our risk taking. 

Please hear me on this: Don’t change who you are for others, but rather fully embrace who you are and live into it.  That, in itself, maybe risky for you with friends and family or just living in this country.

And First Friends, now, more than ever, we must be clear that we are a safe place for people who are taking risks. We must be a place to support and protect risk takers. If a Quaker Meeting cannot be that place, then we should not be calling ourselves Friends. 

As well, in our personal lives, we need to work to identify opportunities where our efforts –– let’s say in our work life, our volunteer life, our engaged life – can make a difference, move the ball forward, tip a scale, move a needle (whatever image of critical change–making works for you.)

And within this opportunity to make a difference, we must constantly be asking ourselves, “What’s wrong with current practice, with the way things are done, that I,  even now,  know about, and can name and question?” 

In the coming days and years this will need to be our ongoing question.  Our eyes will need to be open for any and all opportunities where we can effect change - no matter how small.

It has to start somewhere.

I sense First Friends will need to become a place where we organize our efforts, where we support and encourage one another, and even work together to seek and advance solutions to address these identified opportunities right in our communities, neighborhoods and state. This will mean together we will need to ask and engage some queries:

·        What is wrong, and what might a change look like and entail? 

·        How can we explore and try out these ideas for change further? 

·        What is needed to make them successful?  What is the next move? Who is with us in this effort?

Lastly, a key to making change and becoming “Angelic Troublemakers” is learning to build relationships based on trust with allies, fellow F/friends, potential partners, people with leadership or influence or access to resources, and people like yourselves eager to grow in your understanding and create opportunities for others to participate and proceed together toward building a righteous force for change in all the ways suggested above.

Folks, You and I must take up the mantle of being “Angelic Troublemakers” not just for the sake of preserving our legacy, but for the growing inequalities, threats, and injustices that we, our loved ones, and our siblings in faith are, and will be facing, in the coming days.

Now is our time to truly be FRIENDS, to seek in silence the nudging and leading of the Spirit, to seek together ways to respond to the injustices of the world, and most importantly, to grow in our love for our neighbor and our God. Our scripture for this morning is an important reminder of this, as well as the hope we have.

We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.   

As I was trying to summarize my thoughts and close out this message, I returned to Bayard Rustin words – prophetic in his time and in ours.   

“We are indeed a house divided. But the division between race and race, class and class, will not be dissolved by massive infusions of brotherly sentiment. The division is not the result of bad sentiment, and therefore will not be healed by rhetoric. Rather the division and the bad sentiments are both reflections of vast and growing inequalities in our socioeconomic system--inequalities of wealth, of status, of education, of access to political power. Talk of brotherhood and "tolerance" (are we merely to "tolerate" one another?) might once have had a cooling effect, but increasingly it grates on the nerves. It evokes contempt not because the values of brotherhood are wrong--they are more important than ever--but because it just does not correspond to the reality we see around us. And such talk does nothing to eliminate the inequalities that breed resentment and deep discontent.”

As we enter into waiting worship this morning, I would like us to give some time in our silence for lament, to hold our country and our leaders in the Light, to remember our friends and relatives who will be affected by this election, and for our Meeting, as we seek to be a place of safety and encouragement for ALL people.   If you need some queries to consider, I encourage you to return to the ones I shared earlier:

·        What’s wrong with current practices, with the way things are done, that I, even now, know about, and can name and question?

·        What might a change look like and entail? 

·        How can we explore and try out these ideas for change further? 

·        What is needed to make them successful?  What is the next move? Who is with us in this effort?

11-3-24 - Delivering the Needed Message: Benjamin Lay

Delivering the Needed Message: Benjamin Lay

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

November 3, 2024

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning we continue our series, “Speak Truth to Power: The Legacy of the Quakers.  The supportive scripture I have chosen is from James 1:12  from The Message.

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

In July of 2007, I traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan to attend a unique conference for pastors called, “Poets, Prophets, and Preachers” put on by Rob Bell and his church, Mars Hill.  Today, 17 years later, I see that conference as a pivotal moment in my ministry.  This is because for the first time in my life, Rob Bell merged art and writing sermons. 

Part one, of the three day conference was titled, “The Original Guerilla Theater.” Surprisingly, this was how Rob was defining the sermon. For those unfamiliar with the idea of Guerrilla Theater, it is a type of political protest that involves performing short, unannounced plays or skits in public spaces to raise awareness of social or political issues.  The term “guerrilla” comes from the Spanish word for “little war” and refers to the surprise nature of these performances.  Please note: it has nothing to do with the monkey-like animals. 

Guerrilla theater originated in the 1960s with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, a radical theater group that preformed against the Vietnam War and capitalism. The group’s performances included nudity, profanity, and taboo subjects.

In this conference, Rob Bell did not take such a radical approach as the San Francisco Mime Troupe, but he did clarify the degree to which a sermon is, as he states,

·        performance art – which encourages people not to miss the human part.

·        guerilla theater – actually showing up with a boom, and then leaving the people thinking they’ve got to wrestle with that human part.

·        And finally, actions that evoke a response. 

Rob took us back to scripture and gave us the example of John the Baptist – a character in the Bible who used all these aspects in his ministry.  Everything from the way he dressed and chose to live, to the challenging messages and experiences he presented to his audience.  John the Baptist exemplified the Guerilla Theater in all he did. 

Over the years, I have participated in and shared a variety of different Guerilla Theater presentations and sermons.  One time, I helped organize a group of people from my church to serve free coffee at the train station in Chicago at rush hour.  It could have been considered a random act of kindness, but when people asked why we were doing this, we said we were simply sharing the love of God with them through a good and free cup of coffee. The irony, was that morning the coffee house by the train station that the passengers used was closed, unexpectantly.  You can’ t make this stuff up, but the impact was huge, and the conversations were wonderful.

A few years ago, several of you had a chance to experience an art display I created to engage people’s struggle with the church. Art as well as theater can be used in a guerilla-like manner.  The experience opened with a painting titled with a quote from St. Augustine that read, “The Church is a whore but she’s my mother.”  Followed by other paintings with challenging subjects.  After a brief set-up, I would simply let people experience the paintings and dialogue about their responses. Ironically, that set of paintings and experience was one of the first guerilla art messages I created after the Poets, Prophets, and Preachers Conference.  Hard to believe those paintings are almost 20 years old. 

A couple years after I was introduced to guerilla theater and started my path toward Quakerism, I was doing some research for my doctoral dissertation and came across an unusual story about a “little person” or dwarf named Benjamin Lay.  Not only was Benjamin Lay considered the “Quaker Comet” for his fiery and surprisingly quick presentations, he also utilized guerilla theater to make his point. As well, he was a great annoyance among Friends, but it was often to get them out of their complacency and to act upon their beliefs. 

Let me take a moment to introduce you to Benjamin Lay by sharing his story from the Quakers in the World website:

[Benjamin] Lay was born in Colchester, England, to Quaker parents William Lay and Mary Dennis.  After a basic education he was apprenticed to a glove maker.  Later he worked on his brother’s farm before going to sea at the age of about twenty. 

He was a man of small stature being about 4 foot 7 inches tall and he also had a hunch back.  After returning home he married and went to live in London. Lay lived the life of a hermit, was a committed vegetarian, did not drink tea or coffee, or wear anything made from leather and preferred to make his own clothes.  

Throughout his life he was given to eccentric behavior and committed acts that startled others. His fellow Quakers were annoyed by his vociferous opposition to the practice of allowing ministers to speak when they had not been directly prompted by God.  Devonshire House monthly meeting disowned him in 1720.  He then moved to Colchester where he continued to disrupt Quaker meetings and was given what amounted to a second disownment.

In 1731 he went to Barbados where he was appalled to see the conditions under which slaves were kept.  He took up their cause and soon started to berate Quaker slaveholders.  He went to live near Philadelphia and continued his protests against slave owning.  Lay wrote a tract about the evils of slavery entitled ‘All Slave-Keepers that Keep the Innocent in Bondage, Apostates’.  His friend Benjamin Franklin had this published in 1737.  In this publication he made many accusations against individual Friends and the Society as a whole. 

Quaker institutions were angered by what he had written, and, more seriously, by the fact that the book had been published as a Quaker document without Quaker approval.

The 'Overseers of the Press' were supposed to authorize all publications that put forward Quaker views.  To publicly voice an opinion and present it as evolving from Quaker principles, without such approval, was a serious matter at that time.  Philadelphia Yearly Meeting took out advertisements in various newspapers to distance themselves from Lay’s views.  This disapproval did not deter him and whenever the occasion arose he would speak out against slavery.  

One of his most memorable exploits took place in Burlington, New Jersey in 1738.  After entering the Meeting House he removed his outer clothing to reveal a military uniform including a sword.  After a lengthy tirade he thrust the sword into a bladder of red liquid that he had hidden between the covers of a Bible, spattering the Quakers sitting nearby.   He told them that owning slaves was akin to stabbing a man to death and that the red liquid was a symbol of the blood of slaves on Quaker slave owner’s hands. 

This outburst caused him to be disowned once more. Lay’s tactics were in contrast to other abolitionists such as John Woolman, who was always careful not to publicly criticize Friends or to cause offence.  Woolman’s writings all went through the accepted Quaker approval channels.

Lay continued to consider himself a Quaker throughout his life despite being disowned by the Society.  He also continued to make dramatic gestures.  He stood outside a meeting house in the snow without a coat and in bare feet to remind Friends of the hardship experienced by slaves. 

On another occasion he kidnapped a child and only returned him to his father when the authorities came to his dwelling place.  He said that this was an attempt to make people realize how African parents felt when their children were captured and sold into slavery.

Although Lay is usually remembered for his influential role in persuading the Society of Friends to renounce slavery, he was also ahead of his time in supporting other causes that he supported such as temperance.  Criminal reform also interested him and he produced a pamphlet that advocated the abolition of capital punishment.

In 1758 Philadelphia Monthly Meeting decided that slave holders should be excluded from all business meetings.  It is said that when this news reached Lay he rose from his chair and exclaimed “I can now die in peace”.  He died in the following year and is buried in the Quaker burial ground in Abington, near Philadelphia.

As I reflected upon Benjamin Lay’s ministry and life, I could not help but be reminded of a more modern example, that being author, preacher, former-Evangelical, and one of my professors, Tony Campolo. Tony has been a vocal activist and preacher and has on occasion used guerilla theater to get his point across. We have come to realize that Tony Campolo has a reputation for shaking things up and causing a bit of stir.  In a sermon at  Spring Harvest in 1982 Tony shocked his audience by saying,

“While you were sleeping last night 45,000 kids died of starvation and malnutrition, and what’s worse is that you don’t give a shit! And what’s even worse is that you are more concerned that I said ‘shit’ than the 45,000 kids that died last night!”

Still today, 42 years later, the impact of this one quote is discussed and debated in theology and pastoral classes.

Sometimes we need people in our lives that will ask the tough questions of us.  That will go out of their way to get our attention, to literally shock us into seeing our bad behaviors, indecisions, or poor theology. 

Especially us, Quakers, who can easily get caught up in routine or tradition, and totally miss the people being affected by our decisions or indecisions we make.  Sometimes our slow responses or even our love of silence can betray our own testimonies.

This is something Quaker Bayard Rustin (who we are going to talk about next week) spoke about often with Martin Luther King Jr.  And just listen to what King says about silence:

·        “A time comes when silence is betrayal.”

·        “Our love begins to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

·        “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

·         “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

Sometimes it takes being annoying, stubborn, theatrical, or using different or unusual means to get our attention, to knock us out of our complacency, and to move us to respond, to process, and especially to act upon our beliefs. 

In a slightly different manner, I will never forget the last yearly meeting sessions that our family attended in the Northwest Yearly Meeting before moving to Indiana.  The yearly meeting was going through a bitter division over same sex marriage and biblical authority. 

Our youth contingency had dwindled from 300 some youth to about 40 youth in our 6 years in the Northwest due to this battle among friends taking place. Those 40 youth made a decision that shocked the Yearly Meeting Sessions. They decided to forgo their annual trip to the beach (a huge tradition and memory maker for the youth) all to be present in Yearly Meeting Sessions for the heated discussion that was going to take place.  As we gathered, the youth arrived in silence and had reserved seats front and center in the auditorium on George Fox University’s campus.

Because of the topic of discussion, there was standing room only – over 800 people in attendance.  The youth stood for most of the time, to be a visible reminder that they were present, that they cared about the conversation taking place, and that as Quaker’s their voice would be heard as equals. 

As the tensions rose, they just kept making their stand.  Even a couple approached the microphone and spoke from their hearts.  Though no conclusion or decision was made in that session, their presence was important and validated. 

A couple years earlier the youth had boldly presented in Yearly Meeting Sessions a Query on Conflict and Differences for us all to consider.  It was presented by a young woman from our Meeting in Silverton, Oregon.  Here are the words of that query (understand they could not have fully realized where the yearly meeting in the northwest would be just a couple years later).

Recognizing human imperfection, how do I strive to follow Christ’s example in the way I love and respect others? When confronted with a conflict, how do I actively show Christ with a compassionate and grace-filled heart? Am I leaving space for change? How do I value other persons when charged with their reputations, remembering that they, too, are children of God?  How do I build up the individual in the light of God? 

The youth clearly had a prophetic voice in our midst, but many were simply not paying attention.  Same sex marriage had become no different than slavery in Benjamin Lay’s day.

That evening at Yearly Meeting Sessions the youth were scheduled to lead us in worship. Sensing our division had led us to be unable to move forward, they chose to offer a time of mourning and lament for our divisions. They lowered the lights in the auditorium and offered spaces for people to come together and pray for and with each other and for their local meetings. We lit hundreds of candles which illumined the space to symbolize our mourning and our hope in the Light of Christ.

Through tears many of us put our arms around each other and joined the youth in singing these words,

Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet.

Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.

Light before us, light behind us, light under our feet.

Light within us, light over us, let all around us be light.

Alleluia.

I cannot help but think that many of us are currently in this space right now with the election this week.  Like slavery, or same sex marriage, politics are dividing us as Friends and as a country. 

And I know of some Benjamin Lays who have been trying to get our attention so we will not make the same mistakes we have made in the past. 

But the outcomes after Tuesday will be out of our hands, and the trauma and the pain will be evident because this race is so close. No matter the outcome, I pray we can be people of integrity and seek to answer those queries our youth in the northwest presented us with. 

And if things don’t go in the way we like, we will need to be like Benjamin Lay and those youth, who did not give up, who did not just go party at the beach, but stood up, spoke up, and led in this time of division. 

So, this morning, as we prepare our hearts for this upcoming Election Day, let us enter a time of waiting worship and ponder those queries of the youth:

·        Recognizing human imperfection, how do I strive to follow Christ’s example in the way I love and respect others?

·        When confronted with a conflict, how do I actively show Christ with a compassionate and grace-filled heart?

·        Am I leaving space for change?

·        How do I value other persons when charged with their reputations, remembering that they, too, are children of God? 

·        How do I build up the individual in the light of God? 

10-27-24 - Seeking Equal Rights – Alice Paul

Seeking Equal Rights – Alice Paul 

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

October 27, 2024

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. This Sunday at the Meetinghouse is the day we invite the children (and the children at heart) to wear costumes to Meeting. As well, the last several years people have worn witch hats as we have dedicated the Sunday to “Advocating for Witches” as the early Quakers did during the Salem Witch Trials. The reality was that women were being abused by both the religious and political figures of the day. So, this morning, after I read our scripture, I want to take a serious look at women’s rights today and the role Alice Paul played in our Quaker history.  The scripture I have chosen for this morning is Galatians 3:28 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

This morning, I am starting my message with some bad news. I know some people like to give their listeners the opportunity to choose what they want first – the good or the bad.  But by giving you the bad news, I want to highlight the work that still needs to be done in seeking equal rights for woman in our nation and world, today. 

To talk about Alice Paul and her passion for women’s rights, without also talking about what work still needs to be done would not be respectful of the work she did.  And to leave this conversation at women getting the right to vote alone, would continue to perpetuate a world much different than the one Alice Paul was envisioning for all women of her time. I sense if Alice Paul was still alive, she would be fighting just as hard for the inequalities and injustices that women face around the world in 2024.

Also, before I even start, I want to acknowledge a couple of things:

1.     I am male. I apologize upfront for any lack of awareness. I try hard to research before stating any of my comments as to support women and defend their rights. I am not an authority on women’s issues but feel education is critical at this juncture. I know at times my implicit bias will rear its ugly head – but I admit that I am willing to learn, be corrected, and find solutions to make the world better for women.

2.     Also, this is probably going to get political – and there is no way around that.  Our history as Quakers if you have not already noticed in the first several sermons in this series, is inundated with women and men getting political, standing against political oppressions, meeting with politicians and presidents, and even fighting the system. So, I apologize if any of this upsets you in light of our current political environment.  I hope if anything it will shed some light on what work we still need to do, and what we may not want to vote for in the near future.

Now, back to the bad news.  Emmaline Soken-Huberty on the Human Rights Careers page has put together the Top 20 issues Women are Facing Today. She admits that,

“Women’s rights have improved over the years, but continued progress is not guaranteed. In a time of escalating conflicts, rising authoritarianism and devastating climate change impacts, women face many issues related to education, work, healthcare, legal rights, violence and much more. By understanding these issues, the world can work together to achieve gender equality, stronger human rights protections and safety for all people.”

As Quakers who believe robustly in affirming a testimony of equality, I want to remind us what stating that actually means.

 As Friends we hold that all people are equal in the eyes of God and have equal access to the “inner Light.” This profound sense of equality leads Friends to treat each person with respect, looking for “that of God” in everyone.  It also means we reject all forms of discrimination whether based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, immigration status, class, gender, age, ability, or sexual orientation. We work to change the beliefs, practices and institutions that perpetuate prejudice, and we support affected communities in seeking their own liberation and equality. We continually examine our own biases and privileges and strive to achieve greater equality in our Meeting, in our communities, and in our society.  (I adapted that from American Friends Service Committee’s list of Quaker Testimonies)

So now, in light of all I have said already, let me finally address those 20 Issues Women are Facing Today. I am just going to highlight them briefly and I hope you will take the time to research them further on your own.   

1.    Unequal pay: For centuries, society has undervalued the work women perform. Women are even paid less than men for the same work. We saw this first-hand this year with the WNBA and specifically with our own Caitlin Clark.

2.    Racial injustice: All women face discrimination, but women belonging to ethnic minorities face compounded inequalities. Just take a moment and ask a woman of color and they will tell you.

3.    Gender-based violence: refers to acts that cause (or are likely to cause) physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women. According to experts, over 1/3 of women and girls experience some kind of violence during their lifetimes.

4.     Inadequate healthcare: Healthcare access is a human right, but women face unique stigmas and discrimination. 

5.    Threats to reproductive rights:  According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, 40% of women live under restrictive laws, which represents over 750 million women of reproductive age. 6% of women live in countries where abortions are prohibited completely. Access to contraception increased from 900 million in 2000 to almost 1.1 billion in 2021, but barriers like misinformation about contraception, fear of side effects and access remain. According to the UN Populations Fund, around 257 million women who don’t want to become pregnant still aren’t using safe and modern contraception.

6.    Lack of education: All children deserve access to education, but girls have historically faced more discrimination. Progress has been made, but according to UNICEF, 129 million girls are still not in school. Reasons include poverty, gender-based violence, early marriage and a lack of safety, hygiene and sanitation resources. 

7.    Food insecurity: Women face more food insecurity than men, Research from the World Food Programme identifies a few reasons why.  The first is that women are more likely to live in extreme poverty. Globally, women earn just 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. Women also face unequal treatment during times of crisis and are more vulnerable to malnutrition during pregnancy.

8.    Climate change: Research consistently shows that women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. One reason is that women depend on natural resources, so during times of famine or other disasters, women face the added burden of trying to obtain food. In lower-income countries, women also make up a large percentage of the agriculture industry, which is hardest hit by climate change. Women also face increased risks of violence and sexual exploitation during climate-related emergencies. (just think about that as we have just had several recent climate-related emergencies).

9.    Unequal political representation: Society can’t achieve gender equality until there’s equal political representation. According to a survey conducted by Plan International, women still feel “consistently excluded” from politics. Half of the survey participants lived in communities where they felt like it wasn’t okay for girls and young women to be involved in politics. 19% said they had been actively discouraged from getting involved.

10.           Discriminatory social institutions: Social institutions are the laws (formal and informal), norms and standards that determine how society functions. Unfortunately, gender inequality is embedded into just about every country’s social institutions in one way or another.

11.           Human trafficking: All genders can be victims of human trafficking, but women and girls are especially vulnerable. According to research from 2017, girls and women made up 71% of all victims of trafficking. They also make up 96% of the victims trafficked for sexual exploitation. (And trafficking happens the most during major sporting events like the Super Bowl, NCAA Tournament, Final Four, etc…which all have happened right in our city.)

12.           Limited freedom of movement: Freedom of movement is an individual’s right to live, travel and move within a country or between different countries.  

13.           Threats during migration:  Migration – forced and voluntary – can be risky. According to the International Organization for Migration, more women are migrating independently, especially from the Caribbean and Central America.

14.           Discrimination based on disability: Human Rights Watch estimates there are around 300 million women with mental and physical disabilities. In low and middle-income countries, women represent 75% of people with disabilities. Women are more likely than men to become disabled and face increased discrimination due to the intersection of their gender and disability.

15.           Poor mental health: The state of mental health can be difficult to measure, but according to data, more women are diagnosed with mental health conditions.

16.           The digital divide: Access to technology increases a person’s opportunities for employment, education, public resources, and more. Women don’t get equal access. According to UNICEF, up to 90% of girls and young women in low-income countries can’t access the internet, compared to 78% of boys and young men.

17.           Online harassment: is hard to measure, but there’s little doubt it disproportionately affects women and girls. Online harassment has a terrorizing effect which damages a person’s mental health, discourages them from spending time online and frightens them away from other public spaces. Online harassment can also translate into real-life violence.

18.           Unpaid labor: Women aren’t only paid less than men in most places; they also take on more unpaid labor. According to research, the added burden of unpaid labor is associated with worse mental health in women.

19.           Inadequate maternal healthcare: Pregnancy and childbirth are inherently risky, but maternal healthcare is inadequate for many people. According to the WHO, almost 800 women died in 2020 from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. A striking 95% of these maternal deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries. 

20.           Period poverty: Periods are a fact of life for many people, but about 500 million women and girls don’t have the supplies they need, according to the OHCHR. “Period poverty” is defined as a lack of access to products, hygienic spaces, education and other resources.

So that may seem overwhelming, but that was just a taste of the issues facing women of the world, today in 2024. Obviously, some of those issues were not realized yet in Alice Paul’s day.  But clearly, she recognized that there were still many inequalities and challenges looming even after women received the right to vote.

So, in light of the challenges for today, let me now take you back and tell you Alice Paul’s story so you understand the often-extreme lengths in which she had to go to have her voice heard as a women of her day.  I am reading her story from History.com. 

Alice Paul was born to suffragist Tracie Parry and successful Quaker businessman William Paul on January 11, 1885, in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. The oldest of four siblings, she lived with her family on a 265-acre farm, and as Hicksite Quakers, was raised to value living simply along with a high importance placed on gender equality and advocacy. In fact, as a girl, she attended suffragist meetings with her mother. 

“When the Quakers were founded…one of their principles was, and is, equality of the sexes, Paul said. “So I never had any other idea…the principle was always there.” 

Paul, who graduated first in her class in 1901 from a Quaker school, attended the Quaker Swarthmore College, co-founded by her grandfather, Judge William Parry, graduating in 1905 with a biology degree. She then moved to New York, and, in 1907, earned a master’s degree in sociology from the New York School of Philanthropy (today’s Columbia University). 

Paul soon moved to England, where she studied social work and joined the British suffrage movement where she learned militant protest strategies, including breaking windows, hunger strikes, forming picket lines and other tactics and forms of civil disobedience. There, she was arrested on seven occasions and jailed three times. While imprisoned, she carried out hunger strikes and was painfully force-fed for weeks through a nasal tube. 

Returning to the states in late 1909, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1912 with a Ph.D. in economics, and in 1922, received a law degree from the Washington College of Law at American University.

Along with fellow suffragist Lucy Burns, whom she had met at a London police station, Paul joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association and was tapped as the group’s Washington, D.C., chapter. But while the organization worked at a state level to fight for a woman’s right to vote, Paul was set on amending the U.S. Constitution.

She and Burns organized a protest parade in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 1913—the day before the inauguration of President-elect Woodrow Wilson.  An estimated 8,000 women turned out to march from the U.S. Capitol to the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue, with a reported half-million bystanders responding with both cheers and jeers that included verbal and physical attacks ignored by police. 

But the protest spurred Wilson to agree to meet with Paul and fellow suffragists, although he told them he would not push for the amendment. 

Undeterred, and disagreeing with tactics followed by the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Paul and Burns formed the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage in 1913, which then founded the National Woman’s Party in 1916 (the groups merged in 1917).

In January 1917, the groups held the first political protest at the White House, with approximately 2,000 women picketing the president’s home and executive offices for the right to vote. Six days a week for 18 months and clad in white dresses, they were called “Silent Sentinels,” as they protested without speaking and carried signs with messages such as “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?” and “An autocrat at home is a poor champion of democracy abroad.” Over the campaign, more than 150 suffragists were arrested on obstruction of traffic charges, harassed, beaten and jailed.

Among those arrested was Paul, who was sentenced to seven months in the Occoquan Workhouse jail. There, she and the other suffragists were beaten, chained and held in deplorable conditions. In protest, Paul began a hunger strike, and was transferred to a psychiatric ward where she was forcibly fed. 

Reports of her hunger strike and the prison condition made national headlines and drew sympathy from the public. Coupled with increasing support for the suffragist movement along with women filling roles on the home front following the U.S.’s entry into World War I, Wilson eventually declared support for the 19th Amendment, calling it a “war measure.” In 1919, Congress passed the amendment and, on August 18, 1920, it was ratified. 

With the 19th Amendment passed, Paul began work on guaranteeing women the Constitutional right to protection from discrimination. In 1923, she authored the Equal Rights Amendment, debuting it in Seneca Falls, New York, where the first women’s rights convention was held in 1848. It read:

“Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.”

(Paul revised the amendment in 1943 to read, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”)

Paul founded the World Woman’s Party in 1938, and successfully lobbied the League of Nations to include gender equality in the U.N. Charter and to include sex discrimination in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

On July 9, 1977, Paul died at the age of 92 in Moorestown, New Jersey.  The farm she grew up on is a National Historic Landmark and the headquarters of the Alice Paul Institute. The Equal Rights Amendment nearly passed in 1982, but was not ratified when votes fell three states short. 

Clearly Alice Paul was one bad-ass Quaker and she went to great lengths to have hear voice heard. Every person, but especially every women in this room,  should be grateful for what she did for each of us and the legacy she left us.

In this series, I have usually highlighted a current person or family within our meeting. This morning, my focus is solely on the woman of this world.  I believe we have strong women in our meeting and I am grateful for each of your unique gifts, talents, and abilities. You are our Friends, our relatives, our spouses, and I believe you are integral to our growth as a community and a nation. 

Yet, there is something that Alice Paul would ask of us this morning if she were here. She would ask us to do everything in our power to continue securing the rights and equality of women in our country and world, today.  

That is why I am standing here sharing this message with you all, because as a Quaker, as a husband, father, and friend, I want women to have an equal part in this world. Some may say that makes me a feminist, but I believe it just makes me human.    

So, the greatest way we can respond to this message is by making our vote count in just over a week -- which clearly Alice Paul fought hard to secure. Now, I know we each have the right to vote as we see fit, but if you want to help secure the rights of women in our country, we need to listen very carefully and research soundly the candidates and their positions on these issues.

The best way you and I can respond to this message and speak our truth to power is when we cast our votes to be educated and informed, mindful of the consequences, and how they could affect the rights of the women in our lives, community, and our world. 

I hope this has helped educate you on the issues facing women, and I hope most of all it will continue the legacy of Alice Paul. 

As you center down to ponder all that has been said, please take a moment to consider the following queries:

·        What issues facing women seem the hardest for me? How might I become more educated on the issues?

·        Out of the 20 issues facing women today, is there one in which I can start making a difference, now?

·        How am I planning to make my vote count for women in the upcoming election?

10-20-24 - Becoming the Leaven in the Dough - Cyrus Bustill

Becoming the Leaven in the Dough - Cyrus Bustill 

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

October 20, 2024

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning, we continue our Speak Truth to Power: The Legacy of Quakers series.  Our scripture is from Matthew 13:33 from the English Standard Version.

He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

One January Term while I was at Huntington University, a professor decided to offer a special class on the 30,000-year history of bread making.  Since the class was two and half weeks long for several hours each day, the class would attempt to make a different bread each class period. They started with very rudimentary recipes, ingredients, and processes and ended with very complicated and sometimes failed attempts. 

The campus ministry department where I worked was blessed to be a tasting stop for the group to get feedback.  This may have been the best two weeks of my time at Huntington.  What we often heard about from the students was not so much about the product they made, but the history and importance of the type of bread and its impact on our world.  More than just a baking class this was a history lesson for our students. 

Not that long ago, bakeries were a staple of our society and still are in many other countries.  I have fond memories of going with my grandma to pick up items at the New Haven Bakery on Saturday mornings after the milk man delivered the milk to her back porch. (Wow, am I that old? Good Grief!)  Today, in America we are seeing bakeries in local grocery stores being replaced by mass produced bakery items. Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s are sadly replacing the cakes we used to get in our neighborhoods at the locally owned bakeries like Taylor’s or Long’s here in Indy. 

When I was serving a church in Rochester Hills, MI, a member of our church, had a dream to open a local bakery where people would again come each week for local bread.  He based it on his family’s bakery back in Germany.  He fought the big businesses and literally changed the minds of the locals that his bread was better than what was offered at the grocery stores. To this day, the bakery he started provides local artisan breads to the community of Rochester Hills. 

I say all of this, because the Quaker we are looking at today is Cyrus Bustill, who went from being a slave to owning his own bakery, which he utilized as a means to speak his truth to power.  Let me share a little of his story from Quaker Stories: Now and Then, Here and There:

Cyrus Bustill was born in Burlington, New Jersey on February 2, 1732. His father, Samuel Bustill, was a white lawyer, and his mother, Parthenia, was one of Samuel’s slaves. Samuel’s wife, Grace, was an active part of his life. Cyrus had four sisters. He described them as being two darker, two lighter, with him in the middle. His early childhood was a happy one at school and at home. He accompanied the family to meeting for worship each Sunday. Though encouraged to free his slaves by his fellow Quakers, Samuel Bustill, did not. 

Samuel Bustill died suddenly when Cyrus was ten years old. Cyrus and his mother’s ownership was passed to Grace Bustill. Although circumstances did not change too much, Cyrus recognized that he had to take charge of his future. He asked to be apprenticed to a tradesman so he could gain skills, earn money, and purchase his freedom. His request was granted, and he was sold to a Quaker friend of his father’s, Thomas Pryor, a baker. Cyrus was freed in 1769, one of a hundred slaves freed between 1763-1769 in the Burlington Quarterly Meeting.

He opened a bakery and gained a reputation for honest practices and good bread. During the Revolutionary War, he was one of the bakers recruited by Thomas Ludwick to supply bread to the troops at Valley Forge. Cyrus saw this as a patriotic duty, not a distraction from his Quaker beliefs. The family tradition describes a personal appreciation from Thomas Falconer, head of supplies for the troops, and a gold coin reward from George Washington.

Following the war, he moved his family to Philadelphia, where he and his wife Elizabeth set up their household and his bakery. Elizabeth had also been attending Quaker meeting since her childhood. Her mother was a Native American woman, Satterthwait, and her father, Richard Morey, the son of the Quaker appointed by William Penn as the first mayor of Philadelphia.

Cyrus built up a successful business and became a leader in the African American community. He and his family regularly attended the Arch Street Meeting.

Cyrus’s clientele included both white and black families, all of whom he treated with dignity and respect. He was concerned about the treatment of blacks in the city and joined with other members of his community to found the Free African Society. This group promoted education for the children of their families, care for the poor, and protection from capture of runaway slaves. He participated in the underground railroad and helped found the St. Thomas African Episcopal Church even though he continued to attend Arch Street Meeting.

A favorite story about Cyrus Bustill says that one day he was driving his wagon along a country road to make a delivery. He encountered a buggy that was moving along the same road, rather slowly but fast enough to kick up dust in his face and on his goods. Soon he recognized the driver as a local judge, accustomed to tarry as he chose feeling certain in his social position. Cyrus decided he had eaten enough dust, encouraged his horses, and passed the judge, leaving him to “eat dust.” He knew this was as good a man as any other.

The judge recognized Cyrus and shouted to him that he would buy no more bread at his shop. Cyrus shouted, “So be it, Judge,” in return. Later, the Judge, missing his tasty bread, returned to Cyrus’ shop, purchased bread, and became his friend. Both men understood each other and the situation, but showed dignity and respect.

Cyrus Bustill’s legacy and influence in the African American community was large. His abolition activities were carried on by his daughter Grace and her daughter Sarah Mapps Douglass and by his grandson David Bustill Bowser, who was also a portrait painter of Abraham Lincoln and John Brown. Another grandson Robert became a portrait painter and was asked to come to England to do a portrait of Queen Victoria. Unfortunately, the Secretary of State refused him a passport, saying he was not a “citizen.” There were many of the family who followed in his footsteps as an educator, teaching and founding schools for African American children. Perhaps the most famous of his ancestors was Paul Roberson, actor, musician, and civil rights activist.

As we look at the takeaways from Cyrus’ life, I want to take a moment and return to our scripture for today – Jesus’ parable about the leaven.  Here a woman mixes a small amount of leaven into a large quantity of flour. The leaven, which contains yeast and other living organisms, grows overnight and causes the entire batch of dough to rise. 

I believe this parable exemplifies the life and legacy of Cyrus Bustill. The parable teaches that the kingdom of God will start in the lives of ordinary yet faithful people and has the potential to grow to impact the whole world.  In many ways, all of the Friends we have talked about so far in this series could be considered the leaven in the dough of our world. 

Early Quakers, including Cyrus believed the present kingdom of God could have a comprehensive effect, but it would start small and work from within.  First within the heart of the individual and then from that individual to the community, and finally from that community to the world. 

And just like the leaven quietly working its way through the dough, Cyrus had a profound impact on many of the sectors of society in his day and for that matter even still today.  To think that Cyrus Bustill’s family would continue his legacy all the way down to most recently the life of Paul Robeson the Civil Rights Activist, singer and actor, and football player, who in the manner of his family spoke truth to power, saying,

 “I shall take my voice wherever there are those who want to hear the melody of freedom or the words that might inspire hope and courage in the face of fear”.

Before I left for Fall Break, I attended the Service Appreciation Dinner put on by our Witness and Service Committee. Nancy Scott was one of the people recognized for her service that night. When we opened the mic for others to share about Nancy, one thing I noticed was the number of people who spoke about Nancy’s work and commitment to the Afghan Project and specifically to the Afghan families. I was moved by their words and the impact Nancy’s commitment had on them.

I remember being at a party at Tim and Barb Decker’s home last year, and one of our Afghan families was invited and sat at our table. They seemed out of place, and it was a bit awkward trying to communicate - that is until Nancy arrived.  Immediately, they came alive.  The dough began to rise because the leaven was mixed in.  The smiles and stories and immediate comfort the family expressed told the greater story of dignity and respect granted to them. They had a friend, an advocate, a person willing to go out of their way to make them feel welcome.

Like Cyrus Bustill, Nancy has used her gifts, been an advocate, created opportunities for the oppressed, and spoke her truth to power.  She is one of many in our meeting that I believe are the leaven needed in our society, today.  Thank you, Nancy for continuing that legacy.

So, now it is time to turn the table on ourselves.  And like usual, I have some queries for us to ponder in light of Cyrus Bustill’s story and this message.

1.     How am I the “leaven in the dough of society?  How is First Friends?

2.     No matter my occupation (baker, singer, portrait painter…) how am I using it to further the Kingdom of God?

3.     In my business and life do I try to treat all people with dignity and respect? Who are the hardest to treat in this manner? Why?

10-13-24 - The Grimke Sisters – Claiming Equality with Courage - Beth

The Grimke Sisters – Claiming Equality with Courage

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Beth Henricks

October 13, 2024

Our Scripture reading today is Scripture – Ephesians 4:14-16

14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Friends, Bob is on vacation this week with Sue on her fall break, so I am sharing the message with you today.  I am following Bob’s outline for his fall series on Quaker leaders, influencers and important men and women in our Quaker history.  Today we will reflect on the Grimke sisters, Sarah and Angelina, two women born into privilege in a prominent Charleston SC family  in 1792 and 1805 respectively.  Their father was a respected judge, their mother from a wealthy  established Southern family and they had a large plantation in Beaufort as well as a large house in Charleston with plenty of slaves to do the work. 

Theirs was a large family with Sarah being the 5th child and Angelina being the 14th and last child.  There was a 13-year difference in age between the sisters and yet they became the closest of all siblings and Sarah became a “mother” to Angelina at age 13.  They both had 2 black servants each, a nursemaid and a companion.  When Sarah misbehaved as a child, she was sent out in the fields to work and saw firsthand the cruelty and brutality of slavery and she grew to hate it.  Sarah saw a slave being whipped and it broke her down into tears.  When her slave companion died, she refused to have another slave companion. 

Sarah likely imparted her views on slavery to Angelina as she was growing up and they both saw slavery as a sin.  They were also very religious and studied the Bible.  They were intelligent and curious and read books from their father’s library.  Both girls wished they could do something about slavery  but were living in a period of time where the goal of southern women was to keep a good home, raise the children and be a good companion to their husband.  Sarah in particular wanted to become a lawyer like her older brother that she much admired but her father didn’t believe that women needed that much education. 

When Sarah and Angelina’s father became quite ill, Sarah took him to Philadelphia for treatment and stayed with him until his death there.  She found the Quakers while in Philadelphia and joined the 4th and Arch St Meeting.  Angelina  later joined her in Philadelphia  and also joined the Quaker Meeting where they found an openness and embrace of their female voices. 

Over the next few decades, they became very involved in the abolitionist movement and worked with some of the significant and well-known names in the movement.  They had a strong voice and moral clarity against slavery, and they had a Southern female perspective having been a part of the ruling class that owned slaves.  Their passion also grew out of their religious and spiritual connection and believed strongly that slavery was not Christian, was not a practice and belief that should be associated with Christianity in any way. 

As they became more and more vocal in the movement, their Quaker Meeting began to feel that they were pushing too hard and too quickly for radical change.  Some of the Meeting felt particularly that Angelina was running ahead of her guide and that she had not seasoned her leading sufficiently.  When she used strong and cutting words to describe the situation and was critical of slaveholders and those that tolerated and just looked away at the practice, the Quaker Meeting started distancing themselves from her.    Sarah supported and participated in this work though her tone and approach was a bit softer.  But she supported her sister, so  the Quaker Meeting also began to distance themselves from Sarah.  This was painful for both of the sisters as this had been their faith community that had supported their participation in their stance against slavery, they had participated in some of the work of the Meeting, they had recognized and embraced their vocal ministry as women, and they had developed some deep friendships. within the Meeting 

In 1836, Angelina wrote an important and influential letter “An Appeal to the Christian Women of the Southern States” that was published as a pamphlet by the  American Anti- Slavery Society (AAS).  It was widely distributed and immediately recognized as a profound antislavery document.  It bluntly called women and particularly Southern women “to political action, stating plainly and persuasively that their voices, when raised, would have a much more profound moral impact than the voices of men, whether slaveholders or abolitionists.”  (pg 131-132)  She spoke to the women through the pamphlet in a conversational way, and her reasoning was intelligent for she knew many southern women  of slaveholders were educated.  And she utilized the Bible effectively  describing slavery as a sin which stained the sinner.   Angelina encouraged these Southern women highlighting their special place in history and unique influence to participate in the work of erasing this sin.  The idea that women could actually change society was revolutionary and even scandalous at the time.  After this pamphlet Angelina became well known throughout the South and the North. 

The same year Sarah wrote “An Epistle to the Clergy of the Southern States” and it was also published  by the American Anti-slavery Society (AAS) and was immediately banned in every major Southern city.  She based the appeal on her credentials as a reader of the Biblical text in its original language to argue that the Bible did not bless slavery. 

The irony of their story is that in 1868 they discovered their brother Henry, a lawyer and the one that took over the family plantation, had fathered three children with his slave Nancy Westin.  Henry had been married and had three children when his wife died fairly young.  He entrusted Nancy, his head slave, with managing the home and raising the children.  They had three children of their own and when Henry died, he gave Nancy and his three sons his Grimke name.  When Sarah and Angelina learned of these boys when they were teenagers, they embraced them in their home and supported them in their educational endeavors and developed an important relationship with them.  Two of the three sons continued in their pursuit of justice, ending slavery and the degradation of men and women throughout their lives.  The Grimke sisters Angelina and Sarah who lived on a plantation with slaves and their two black nephews, Frank and Archie Grimke who became enslaved and brutalized (after their father died) only freed when the Union troops came into Charleston stand as a testament to the lasting power of pursuing justice and equality through courageous action of individuals.

Sarah and Angelina also actively pursued women’s rights and were part of the early suffrage movement that included Lucretia Mott, Lucy Stone, Maria Stewart, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony.  Sarah wrote another important and influential letter, “Letters on the Equality of the Sexes” declaring the equality of women with men under God and promoted by Jesus.  She defended a woman’s right to speak, their intellectual equality and their equality as spouses and not subservient or less than men in the relationship.   Sarah wrote some famous words from that letter “I make no claim for favors for women but claim only equality and for men to take their feet from off our neck and permit us to stand upright on ground which God destined us to occupy. “

It has been fascinating for me to read quite a bit about these extraordinary women.  I am drawn to their story that was unknown to me before the past couple of weeks in the way they were courageous in what they believed even when it turned their family of origin against them, their faith community in the Quakers against them and even some in the abolitionist movement against them as they connected the pursuit of freedom for enslaved blacks and the equal status as citizens for women.  They walked away from a very comfortable life of privilege because of who they were born to and yet the moral compass that was developed in them growing up could not bring them to just accept what  was and hope and pray for change in the future.  They knew they had to take this stand and were willing to live with the consequences.  They never had much money the rest of their lives and they were asked to never come back to Charleston as they brought shame on the Grimke name for the family that remained in the city.  The twist of their story became personal for them when they discovered they had black nephews with the Grimke name.  What a story of God at work through the decades.

I also find it interesting that the Quakers eventually shunned and disowned the Grimke sisters.  Quakers do have a complex and complicated history with slavery.   There were many Quakers that supported abolition and pursued this goal throughout their lives while there were also many Quakers that owned slaves or just looked the other way when their brethren owned slaves.  These sisters were so courageous to follow their calling even when their faith community said they were moving too fast and asking for too much change too quickly.  I am thankful these women stood in their truth willing to face the consequences because of how strongly they believed in the cause and in the morality of equality.   These sisters are a part of the arc of the universe that keeps moving towards justice and equality and stand on shoulders upon shoulders of progress.

Sarah and Angelina were deeply spiritual women.  They were moved to their courageous actions from a spiritual transformation within.  Sarah particularly knew the Bible well and they were followers of Jesus.  I believe they embraced our Scripture today where the author of Ephesians says we speak the truth in love, and we grow in every way to reflect Christ. 

The first part of the Scripture  references our youth and immaturity in our spiritual journey and how we often will allow our families and faith communities of origin to have great influence on us and we follow them sometimes without thought and reflection as young folks in our spiritual journeys.  I know that was my path as I grew up in a fundamentalist tradition.  I started to question many things in my teen years and  sought a different path to God than my spiritual background taught.  I’m sure my parents were skeptical about my questioning, but I knew they questioned some of the same things.  Some of us get stuck in the early stages of our faith development and it feels too scary to question doctrine that we were given.  This is what I admire and want to embrace  about these Grimke sisters.  They moved beyond their faith as children and  joined with so many others to understand the concept of continuing revelation  and showing the love of Christ with every member of the community offering solidarity with our Quaker testimonies.    As the writer of Galatians said in chapter 3, verse 28, 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

As we enter our time of waiting worship I offer the following queries –

Where in my life do I need to stand more courageously in the Truth?

Am I willing to face the consequences of seeking justice and equality for all?

How do I discern what God is speaking into my heart to do?

10-6-24 "World Quaker Day – George Fox 400"

World Quaker Day – George Fox 400

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

October 6, 2024

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. The supportive scripture I have chosen for this Sunday is John 16:12-15 from The Message version.  

“I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won’t draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I’ve said, ‘He takes from me and delivers to you.’

Today is our day – it is world Quaker Day!  Friends World Committee on Consultation is responsible for us having a day to celebrate. If you are unfamiliar with FWCC, they represent Quakers around the world. They formed to answer the call from God for universal love by bringing together Friends of varying traditions and cultural experiences through worship, communications, and consultation – all to express our common heritage and Quaker message to the world. 

This past August, FWCC helped 500 Quakers from 53 countries come together for a World Plenary Meeting in South Africa.  At this gathering, they met to reaffirm that, 

“God has no hands but ours, no feet but ours, no lips but ours, so we keep imagining a better world. I am because you are. I am because we are. I see you.  We belong to each other.  We are still here. We are one!”

I encourage you to go to the FWCC website and watch some of the gathering because it beautifully represents global Quakerism and shows that Friends are still here, alive and well. 

Part of the World Plenary Meeting was also a celebration of the 400th birthday of our founder George Fox.  Since, I was on Sabbatical when the celebration began in July, I decided to move our celebration to World Quaker Day, as it seemed appropriate with our current “Speak Truth to Power” series.  As you might remember before I left, I had a part in kicking off the celebration over the summer by designing the cover of the special 2-edition, George Fox 400, Friends Journal.

As we have in each of the sermons in this series, I want to share a little of George Fox’s story, so that we can not only remember our roots and who we are celebrating, but also what we still can glean from the legacy of George Fox, today.  I will be sharing his story from the Quakers in the World website.   

George Fox was born and grew up in Fenny Drayton in Leicestershire in the turbulent times leading up to the [English] Civil War. At 12, he was apprenticed to a local tradesman, but he left home in 1643 to seek ‘the truth’, through listening to preachers and others, and developing his own ideas. He knew the Bible intimately, and it was central to his life, but he looked for other sources of inspiration too.

He came to believe that everyone, men and women alike, could encounter God themselves, through Jesus, so that priests were not needed. This experience need not be in a church: these ‘steeple houses’, and the tithes that supported them, were therefore unnecessary. Those who believed this became known as ‘Friends of Truth’.

He began talking to everyone he met about his ideas. He was soon in trouble with the authorities, and was imprisoned for the first time in Nottingham in 1649. According to Fox, the term ‘Quaker’ originated from a sarcastic remark by the judge in Fox’s second trial, in Derby, in 1650. in 1651, he was offered a commission in the army, but refused saying that 'he lived in the virtue of that life and power that took away the occasion for all wars'.

In 1652, he climbed Pendle Hill in Lancashire, where he had a vision of a “great people to be gathered” waiting for him. The beginning of the Society of Friends is usually dated from the day, soon afterwards, when Fox preached to large crowds on Firbank Fell, near Sedbergh, in Cumbria. Some days later, he was at Swarthmoor Hall, near Ulverston, home of Judge Fell, Margaret Fell and their family. His ideas were warmly received, and Swarthmoor became a vital hub for the Society of Friends, in Margaret’s capable hands.

Soon he and other Friends, the ‘Valiant Sixty’ or ‘Publishers of Truth’, were travelling all over the country, reporting back to Margaret Fell. Fox went to Cornwall, Wales and Scotland. There was a constant threat of persecution, but Judge Fell, though never a Friend himself, did a lot to protect them until he died in 1658. It was easy to find a Quaker guilty if you wanted to, as they wouldn’t swear oaths (explaining they always told the truth) they refused to pay tithes, and didn’t show proper respect to their ‘betters’ by bowing and doffing their hats (because people are all equal).

In 1660 Quakers and other dissidents were suspected of plotting against the new king. Fox responded with the first formulation of the Peace Testimony, stressing the commitment to nonviolence. Nevertheless, in 1664, Fox was imprisoned for over two years.  He wrote a journal, covering his life so far, and kept it up until he died. He also made plans to organize the growing Society of Friends, devising a framework of local, monthly and yearly meetings that persists, more or less, to the present day.

In May 1669, Fox visited meetings in Ireland. On October 27th, he and Margaret Fell were married, after a round of “clearness” meetings to check whether they should. More than ninety Friends witnessed the marriage certificate. Their close partnership continued, but they could rarely spend much time together during their 20 years of marriage, due to Fox’s continued travels, much persecution, and periods of imprisonment for them both.

By now, there were many Friends in the Caribbean and in the colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America. In August 1671, after attending the first Yearly Meeting, in London, Fox and 12 companions set sail for Barbados, arriving in October. The Barbadian economy was slave-based, and some Friends were slave-owners. Fox protested at the poor treatment of slaves, and said they should be released after thirty years service.

In January 1672, they sailed to North America, via Jamaica.  After seven weeks, they landed at Patuxent, in Chesapeake Bay, south of what is now Baltimore.  Here there was a large Meeting – the forerunner of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. George and some others then went to a large Meeting on Long Island, before sailing to Rhode Island, where the Governor was a Friend. In June some of the party went north to Boston, while Fox and others went south, first to New Jersey, and then back to Chesapeake Bay before going on to Virginia and Carolina.  In January 1673 they were back in Patuxent, where Fox spent the next four months meeting the local “Indian” tribes, an experience he found very productive.  They returned home, to Bristol, in May.

After the 1675 Yearly Meeting, unwell, and tired, he made a slow coach journey north to Swarthmoor Hall.  He spent the next two years there, the longest time he was ever at home.  He rested some of the time but was also very busy with his journal and other writing. He never went north again, but Margaret came south when she could.

In 1677, Fox went with Robert Barclay, William Penn and others to Holland and Germany, where they saw the effects of the religious wars in other parts of Europe.  In the 1680s he spent much time lobbying Parliament against persecution and went again to Holland in 1684.  He lived to see the fruit of his labors, when the 1687 Declaration of Indulgence, confirmed by the 1689 Act of Toleration, finally enabled dissenters to worship freely.

Several meetinghouses were built before he died, in London, in January 1691. He was buried at Bunhill Fields, a non-conformist burial ground on the edge of the City of London.

Clearly, we would not be here today if there were not take-aways from the life of George Fox and his vision. Yet, I believe it is worth noting that Quakerism has never been about one man. Many Friends enjoy reading the works of George Fox, but Quakers are not “Foxists.”

Fox did not claim to be a theologian in the traditional sense, but rather alongside Margaret Fell, Elizabeth Hooten, James Naylor, and many others, was a preacher and organizer, who encouraged all to share the experience of the divine as revealed to them.

The Society of Friends was born of the coming together of people who were questioning conventional Christianity, as they gathered and journeyed on their spiritual paths. I find this fascinating because while being interviewed for Thee Quaker Podcast a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that First Friends has become a gathering of people, who many found themselves questioning the faith they grew up within or had been traveling with and seeking a new journey or spiritual path.

I remember when Megan Alderman and Andrew Hoff wrote their letter to Ministry and Counsel to seek membership. They wrote these words that were read at Monthly Meeting:

[Megan says,] I couldn't reconcile myself with much of the fundamental tenets of Catholicism--the patriarchy, the hierarchical power structure, the anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ foundation. During COVID we floundered a bit spiritually and it wasn't until we came out of COVID that we decided we wanted to try to find a spiritual community that felt more like home. In all honesty, I was bracing myself for the energy required for church-hopping, meeting new people, and trying to get the kids excited about a new church. Andrew, eager to return to his Quaker roots, suggested we start off at First Friends to see if Quakerism at this community felt like the right fit…

[A little later she goes on to explain feeling led to speak out of the silence on her first Sunday with us saying,] It was beautiful. I didn't even know the history of quaking or feeling called to speak out of the silence, but I was physically shaking and tearfully shared what was on my heart and it was such an affirmation and release…The decision to stay at FF was (almost embarrassingly) seamless!

I am so glad, Megan, Andrew and their kids Maeve and Abram found us and are now members, because I believe we at First Friends are continuing this very important Quaker legacy of being a gathering place for spiritual wanderers and seekers. And like George Fox and Margaret Fell, and the Valiant Sixty, we are providing a space for people to come together and explore their faith, ask questions, worship, and serve alongside one another.  

It is the way of Quakers, as spiritual people in community, to exist in dialogue with one another and our forebears. And this also means, there is no need to always agree with every word that George Fox – or any other early Friend – spoke.

We have to remember his context and the breadth of his understanding and theology at the time. This is part of our evolution as Quakers and part of the fluidity of our Faith and Practice.

I will be the first to admit that we have veered away from some of the original beliefs of George Fox and even early Quakers, but that is probably for the best. Yet on occasion we may want to use it to help “reign us in” so we do not get too far away from our original vision and intent.  

Take for example what I spoke of last week. We at First friends have embraced music and the arts and they play a much larger part in our Meeting than the first generation of Quakers and many Quaker meetings, still today.  I don’t know how many Quakers I have met that are surprised we have an organ or even a large choir.

Early Quakers rejected music as a part of worship because they believed it was non-spontaneous and not in line with their values of simplicity and integrity. They also believed that singing together was often just parroting words, rather than expressing true beliefs. And not only is an organ, not a simple instrument, it can be very loud.  

As well, Early Quakers also rejected art, including having one's portrait painted, because they believed it was an act of vanity that put the focus on oneself above God. The irony that I painted a modern art portrait of George Fox for the cover of Friends Journal.

Or take for example our celebration of religious holidays, especially Christmas for us at First Friends. George Fox would not have celebrated any special day; holidays, birthdays, Hallmark holidays, all on the basis that he believed every day to be the Lord’s Day, thus none were set apart or special but all equal. Again, I find it extremely ironic that I am saying this as we are celebrating World Quaker Day and George Fox’s 400th birthday!

Clearly, as you heard in Fox’s story, he dealt with mostly religious persecution and slavery, yet today we have expanded that and the top two things modern Quakers focus on are racial justice and environmental sustainability.

Probably one of the biggest ways we have evolved is in technology. And it has been fax machine-&-pager-slow coming… Yet thanks to the Pandemic, we jumped up to the late 90’s and now offer hybrid committee meetings and worship experiences, we offer Light Reflections of our worship in video, podcast, and email form each week.  We connect through three social media sites on a daily basis with hundreds of people.  Most of our correspondence is done through email. You probably even have a phone in your pocket that allows you to do all the above.  This was unthinkable in George Fox’s day.

And I am quite fond of this one…Many Quakers today employ pastors and music directors, and children’s ministry directors. As well, I know many Unprogrammed or Silent Meetings who also have paid administrators or program directors, this probably has George Fox rolling in his grave because he believed there was no need for pastors, that we all had direct access to God – and we do, but we also believe in pastoral care and education that George Fox often fulfilled for the gathering communities.    

Due to First Friends seeing our Faith and Practice as fluid, and always open for question and debate, we have gone to some major lengths to expand our view of marriage and sexuality to include our LGBTQ+ Friends because we believe in equality of all people.  Other than equality, I am pretty sure George Fox did not address LGBTQ+ issues of his day.

And probably the most controversial issue for First Friends would have to be that we have a steeple. Yes, George Fox would have called our building a “steeple house” and said it was  unnecessary.

But besides all of these changes, probably the most important legacy that George Fox left us and that we are still working to uphold are these words offered by George Fox in the mid-17th century.

 “…be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.”

I believe that sums up well our takeaway of George Fox.  He was a pattern, an example, his carriage and life preached to an oppressed religious world, and yet he found a way to walk cheerfully and truly answer that of God in everyone he met.  That is what we need again today in our world. 

And since then, many generations have answered that call – we would not be meeting currently if this was not the case.  

Now, it is First Friends’ turn to pick up the mantle and Speak our Truth to Power as George Fox did to his world, cheerfully, and with passion, utilizing our gifts as I said last week, among all sorts of people. And may First Friends be a place where spiritual wanderers and seekers, together hear the call that may change our world.  

As we contemplate how we will answer this call, take a moment to consider the following queries:

1.      Which aspects of early Quaker tradition still speak to me, today?

2.      What aspects of Quaker tradition are most important to pass on to the next generation?

3.      If early Friend’s actions were seen as radical and even cutting edge in their time, how am I responding to the challenges I face in the 21st century in a way that builds on Quaker insights? 

9-29-24 - Sharing your Gifts – Rachel Robinson Elmer

Sharing your Gifts – Rachel Robinson Elmer

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

September 29, 2024

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  This week we continue our series, “Speak Truth to Power: The Legacy of Quakers.”  The scripture I have chosen for this morning is from 1 Peter 4:10 from The Voice version.

Use whatever gift you’ve received for the good of one another so that you can show yourselves to be good stewards of God’s grace in all its varieties.

This past week in the Daily Quaker email feed I ran across the following quote from Amber, a Quaker from South Bend, Indiana. It not only spoke to my condition, but I found it the best way to open this message about Quaker artist, Rachel Robinson Elmer. Amber says,

"As a singer and an artist, I often think of the risk and discomfort that musicians and artists have to go through to share their art with the world. The art that inspires me most is a deeply personal window into the person who created it, and to open the deepest version of yourself up to public scrutiny is terrifying. Not to mention the loss of peace, privacy, and simplicity that can go with such endeavors. In my view this is a huge sacrifice, but art and music are my most common source of engagement with the Holy Spirit. Seemingly small pieces of art and music contain ripples of peace, inspiration, empathy, and joy.

What is my duty to Spirit, others, and myself? My duty is to create and use the talents that I've been given to create as many ripples of light as I can in this world, and as much as it might frighten me, perhaps it is also my duty to sacrifice some of my comfort and put my art out there when I have the opportunity. It is also my duty to create access for others to experience and create art and music and remove barriers around art for the people in my community."

I love that image of “creating as many ripples of light as I can in this world,” no matter if it frightens me or causes me to sacrifice some of my comfort.  As an artist myself, I understand the challenge that Amber is speaking of.  Our art is intimate and often comes from a deep place within us – some would say it comes from the depths of our souls. To share one’s art is to be vulnerable, to expose one’s values, to open one up for critique, and on occasion to receive rejection.

When an artist shares a poem, a painting, a song…you name it….they sacrifice a piece of themselves for the benefit of the community.  And when it is not welcomed or recognized, it feels like an assault on one’s very being.

I say this to remind us to tread lightly and learn to appreciate those expressing themselves artistically from the depths of their souls. Pause for a moment and listen carefully, look intently, and allow yourself to experience what all is within and behind their art. Just maybe you will see how the artist is speaking their truth to power.   

The Quaker we are looking at today, Rachael Robinson Elmer is someone who created ripples of light in her world and spoke her truth to power through her art. She is maybe the Quaker in this series that I personally relate to the most. Again, I will be sharing her story from Quaker Stories: Now and Then, Here and There.

Rachael Robinson Elmer had many gifts. She was musical, artistic, a good writer, and a talented speaker. When she was a teenager, her father told her to concentrate on one thing. She chose art and filled her life with its beauty and it became a way of communicating her care for others and the world around her.

Rachael was born on a Ferrisburgh, Vermont farm on July 28, 1878. Her father Rowland was a farmer, conservationist, artist, and writer. Her mother Anna was an artist and teacher. Rachael grew up in a Quaker home where there were books, music, interesting people and stories of the Underground Railroad, and folktales of the area, farming, fishing, and hunting. She looked out her window and saw Lake Champlain, the Adirondack Mountains, the fields dotted with sheep and cows, and the colors of the forests. She and her father took many walks in the countryside in place of her “female” chores in the house. 

She was the first child of older parents though sister Mary and brother Rowland would come later. From the time she was little she drew the flora and fauna around her, filling the pages of sketchbooks her mother bought her or her father made for her. Like her father had when he was small, she also covered the margins and covers of books, the backs of letters and farm receipts, cereal boxes, and a wall or two with her detailed pictures of what she saw. Her classmates loved her sketches and paintings as well as her cheerful and kind manner. “She brought joy to every occasion,” one of them shared. Every week she and her mother took the train into Burlington for art classes. At 12, she was enrolled in a correspondence course in art from the Chautauqua Society, where the director recognized her as one of the most talented students he’d ever had.

At 14, she was invited to New York City to take classes with live models. Can you imagine a young teenager from the Vermont hills encountering a crowded urban center? In fact, she loved it! Each time she came back for her classes with Max Ernst, she discovered new favorite spots to visit and paint. Armed with more education at Goddard Academy in Barre, Vermont, two years of teaching in Burlington and Ferrisburgh, and tutoring from Anna in color, composition, and perspective, she returned to New York. She studied under Impressionist painter Hassam Childe and got work illustrating for several children’s book publishers.

When a Quaker friend sent her a postcard from London, not a black and white photographic-like one, but a lovely fine art painting, she was almost moved to tears. When her friend encouraged her with the words, “Our city is surely as lovely and thee could serve her well,” Rachael knew she had been called to a new task. She roamed the city, painting her favorite spots and then spent two years and at least three pairs of shoes looking for a publisher to create postcards from her paintings. Finally, P.F. Volland in Chicago agreed, the postcards were published in 1914, and the postcard industry was changed forever. The fine art paintings sold for 25 cents at the best boutiques and were an immediate success. 

She continued her illustrating and was praised by her employers for her detail, color, and liveliness of her characters. She was never without work. When she married Robert France Elmer, a widowed banker, she found new love and support. Her husband often took over the cooking and housework to give Rachael time and space for her artistic endeavors. Together, they entertained and shared their home with others. During World War I, they often invited young soldiers to their home, feeding them, caring for the sick, and boosting morale. Rachael understood how scared and homesick these young men from farms and cities were as they waited to ship overseas or came back from the war, injured and weighed down with the memories of the violence. She did not agree with war as the answer but was called to fill their lives with beauty, joy, and hope. She’d never done much cartooning as had her father, but she filled the walls of the soldiers’ canteens with posters and murals to make them laugh and give them memories of home.

On February 13, 1919, Rachael Robinson Elmer died of influenza, probably infected by one of those young soldiers. She was mourned by her family and friends and remembered by villagers in France who had been able to plant trees destroyed in the war with funds Rachael had raised. She was also remembered fondly by former students and classmates for her charm, inner and outer beauty, generous nature, and sense of fun.

Her home, the Rokeby Farm, was turned into a museum in 1961, when the last Robinson family member died and left the property for that purpose. Today, from May to October, the museum and the old farmhouse are open to visitors. Recently, the museum turned over 15,000 family letters to the library at Middlebury College. These letters contain vivid pictures of life on the farm in Ferrisburgh, adventures in the cities where family members worked, studied, and traveled, concerns for the health and behavior of relatives, and social justice activities of generations of Robinsons.

As I begin to unpack the take-aways from today’s story.  I want to start by returning to our scripture for this morning. I believe Rachel Robinson Elmer is a model of someone who used the gifts she received from the Spirit for the good of one another.  And she showed herself to be a good steward of God’s grace through sharing her art.

I think this is why Quakers often include stewardship of one’s gifts as an important part of the testimony of Integrity.  We, Quakers, are to strive to use our gifts in a way that is consistent with our values, because we believe that integrity is a key part of actually living a life of honesty and authenticity. Phil Gulley explained this so well in his message, “Not just Integrity, but Integration,” where he said,

We live with this need always, Friends, to weave our lives into a seamless garment, when what we say and believe and do are one and the same no matter what, to integrate our lives, so what we love is what we do, so what we believe becomes our first impulse and not our eventual one. Not just living near the truth, within viewing distance of it, but living in it and being of it.

Rachel Robinson Elmer was able to integrate her life in a way that what she said, believed, and did were one and the same. 

Maybe a more modern way of thinking of this is in the concept of craft. When I was in Oregon, I found myself in many conversations about how we define craft today and especially what that looks like within our meeting.

Some may think craft is just a buzz word or simple label given to represent some type of standard of quality, innovation, or tradition. Yet in my conversations, we talked about how craft is more about integrating our values into what we are creating, and presenting something from ourselves that is unique, authentic, thoughtful, and for the enjoyment or even betterment of our community. In this light, we are moving from simply seeking integrity to integrating integrity into the core of our craft. 

I believe Rachel Robinson Elmer is teaching us, still today, the craft of finding beauty, joy, and hope in our world through sharing our gifts. And please understand, that does not mean only gifts we consider artistic such as things like singing, painting, poetry…no, we ALL have gifts that offer the world beauty, joy, and hope, if we choose to recognize, integrate, and ultimately share them. 

Every summer and throughout the year we showcase a plethora of musical talents from within our meeting; singers and musicians, all who bring beauty, joy, and hope to our community. 

But in the same way, I think of someone like Larry Mills. He shares his gifts with us on a weekly basis, mostly behind the scenes. I bet some people in this room don’t even know who Larry is. Not only does Larry sing in the choir each week, he also shares his gifts and talents to keep this building maintained and safe for us to worship, work, and fellowship within. I believe he authentically, thoughtfully, honestly, with integrity, works to make this building viable so beauty, joy, and hope can thrive – because that is his craft, and he has integrated his values into the gifts he shares with us. 

Yet for most of us, his gifts go unseen, like the automatic flusher he installed on the urinal in the men’s bathroom (which many would take for granted), or the care he takes to keep our boiler running throughout the winter. Very few people would recognize these gifts, but we all reap the benefits of him sharing them with us.  Thank you, Larry, for sharing your gifts with us. 

And I am sure if we took a moment right now to think about it, most of the people who have made an impact in our lives are those who have learned to integrate their values into sharing their gifts and talents for the betterment of this world. They are the people who have created “ripples of light” in our communities.  People who have blessed us with their unique gifts, talents, art. People who have showed us beauty, joy, hope in the midst of difficult times or when we needed it the most. 

And that leads me to ask, what gifts, talents, art, craft do you have to offer to your community and world?

To ponder this, let’s take some time to turn this conversation on ourselves. To help us do that, I have some queries for us to consider this morning. 

·        How am I using the gifts and talents that I've been given to create as many ripples of light as I can in this world?

·        What frightens me about sharing my gifts and talents? Will I need to sacrifice some of my comfort in sharing?

·        How am I embracing the craft and integrating my values into sharing my gifts?

9-22-24 - Seeking Dignity and Respect for All – Paul Cuffe

Seeking Dignity and Respect for All – Paul Cuffe

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

September 22, 2024

Good morning Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. This morning we continue our Speak Truth to Power series by looking at Quaker Paul Cuffe.  The scripture I have chosen is from Philippians 2:3-4 from the New Century Version.

When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves. Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others.

A few years ago, I was visiting the original Pike Place Starbucks in Seattle.  I noticed at the original store, they still use the logo from 1971 that Terry Heckler designed. Other than removing the bare chest of the siren, sharpening up the image to make it a bit more modern, and changing the color from brown to green, most of us can recognize the now famous siren logo as representing Starbucks. But the more I looked at the image, the more I became curious. My curiosity led me to make some connections that unexpectedly led back to Quakers. 

Obviously, the logo and the name, Starbucks implies a connection to the classic novel, Moby Dick.  And when standing in Seattle at Pike Place Market it is hard not to miss the sea of the Puget Sound calling sailors to the Pacific Ocean. Yet if you went to your local library and pulled a copy of Moby Dick off the shelf and started reading, you would quickly find the character Starbuck, who is the first mate of the Pequod and operates as the voice of reason aboard the ship. He is a Quaker and periodically brings up a religious perspective in some of the arguments that take place on the Pequod's journey. 

Even though this is a fictional tale, it borrows from real life. Mary Coffin Starbuck was interestingly a relative of Lucretia Mott, who also, as we heard last week, had connections to the whaling industry. The islands off Massachusetts became whaling central in early America, and Quakers were the foundation of its success.  There is so much interesting history in this story. Even at one point a Starbuck marries a Folger – yes of another coffee fame. You cannot make this stuff up. 

Anyway, I say this all to lead us to look at another historic Quaker, Paul Cuffe, the first wealthy and successful black man in America.  Again, Paul has a very interesting story that I believe is still relevant for Friends, today.  Let me share a little of his story again from Quaker Stories: Now and Then, Here and There.

In 1759, Paul Cuffe was born on Cuttybunk Island, the southwest Island of the Elizabeth Island archipelago off the coast of Massachusetts near the present city of New Bedford. His father, Kofi, had been brought to America from the Akan tribe in present day Ghana and bought by a Quaker, Ebenezer Slocum, and sold later to his nephew John, who freed him two years later. Kofi married a woman, Ruth Moses, of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe and raised ten children with her. Paul was the seventh of these children and learned practical skills of carpentry, farming, and fishing from his father. As a small boy, he spent hours on the rocky shores of the small island, observing the sea – the tides, the currents, and the shoals. From both his parents, he learned a spirituality that respected people and the natural world. From them he learned Quaker values of respect for all as children of God, the importance of education, responsibility for family, providing for the less fortunate, speaking the truth, and working hard to develop the gifts given to you. Kofi Slocum’s watchwords were “Give, give, give.” Though his father died when he was about ten, Paul never forgot these lessons.

His father left the 116 acres of farm land he had bought near Dartmouth/Westport to Paul and his older brother John, but Paul was pulled to the sea and sailed on his first whaling journey at 16. He learned navigational skills, shipbuilding, and whaling from the sailors and work on the boats. Captured by the British and held in New York as a prisoner for three months during the Revolutionary War, he had time to think about what he was going to do with his future. When he returned home, he used timber from his land and built a small boat to run the British blockade and supply goods to Nantucket and other island towns…He built a bigger boat, used the business and social skills of the wealthy Quaker trader William Rotch as his model, and set up a hauling, trading, real estate, shipbuilding, and whaling business. He married his Wampanoag wife Anna and had seven children, two sons and five daughters and built a school on his own property to ensure an education for them, their cousins, and any white children who wanted to attend. He partnered with his brother-in-law, Michael Wainer, the Wampanoag husband of his sister Mary, and sailed with his all African American and Native American crews, mostly relatives, north to Newfoundland and south to Philadelphia, Virginia, and South Carolina. Later, he would trade across the Atlantic to England, France, Spain, Portugal, Africa, the West Indies, and the Gulf Coast. Everywhere he went he learned from the people he met and developed a reputation for honesty, intelligence, good common sense, courage and respect for others.

He suffered the insults and prejudices of a black man with humility but no sign of weakness. He encouraged his crew to act with dignity and respect to all. Audacious enough to sail his all-black crew into southern ports, he found his presence and that of his crews led to surprise and business acceptance, even kindness on occasion. When he returned from his first trip to the African shores, his ship and cargo were seized in the Newport, RI harbor due to embargoes he was unaware of. He rallied his supporters from the wealthy Quaker shipping trade of New Bedford to Massachusetts politicians to Philadelphia businessmen, both black and white, and went to Washington, DC to see President James Madison. Helped by DC and Baltimore Quakers, he entered the “front” door of the White House, met the president, stated his protest and request, and gained his waiver to recover ship and goods…

…As he travelled, Paul Cuffe became more and more concerned about the slave trade, the plight of slaves, and the treatment of free blacks in the North. During his international trading, Paul Cuffe met abolitionists in Great Britain, received a favorable welcome, and saw ways he could build on British efforts in Sierra Leone to stop the slave trade and find a home in Africa where freedmen could not only improve themselves but serve as helpmates and models for the improvement of the African peoples. He hoped to educate Africans for future self-determination and entrance into the nations of the world. Having joined the Westport Friends Meeting in 1808, he prayed for the way to open that he might implement his dream and sought support from his meeting. In 1811 he received a minute of approval to travel to Sierra Leone to explore possibilities. The work of his remaining years was to begin.

Always an organizer and a pragmatist, he set up groups of supporters in the black communities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. He worked to raise money to set up a triangular trade between Sierra Leone, Great Britain, and the United States, buy tools and machinery to develop agriculture and small factories, and even start a whaling industry with African sailors he would train to someday man their own fleet. Having met some American and Jamaican freedman, most from Nova Scotia and England, he helped them form a Friendly Society that would plan and lead the local efforts in Sierra Leone.

Unfortunately, the War of 1812, the events of slave rebellions in the U.S. and Haiti, the increasing fears of Southern slaveowners, and the imbedded social culture of racial prejudice were to lead to the lack of fulfillment of his aspirations. Accepted as he was, wealthy as he had become, respected and dignified, Paul Cuffe was not able to realize his humanity as a child of God, irregardless of the color of his skin. His dream was co-opted by the American Colonization Society led by many Southern politicians and slaveowners, misunderstood by black leaders like James Forten and Absalom Jones, and hampered by self-serving chiefs and British merchants of Sierra Leone…He knew deep inside that those who are to be helped must have the opportunity to be a part of the planning and the leadership of those plans. He had worked hard, given of himself and his worldly goods, been courageous, honest, and strong, served his family and his community. He became ill, tired, and somewhat despondent. He was not to recover. As friends and family gathered at his sick bed in September, 1817, he asked only, “Let me die quietly.” He was buried next to his wife Anna in the cemetery of the Westport Friends Meeting albeit in a far corner.

So, what are our takeaways this morning. If you notice, there is a theme being developed in this series. From Bayard Rustin’s Grandma, Lucretia Mott’s parents, and again Paul Cuffe’s parents, we are seeing the importance of Quaker values being passed down from family members, fellow Friends, and especially through Quaker communities.

With all the new young families and children coming to First Friends, I believe it is now, more than ever, vital to teach a new generation the Quaker values instilled in Paul Cuffe; respecting the equality of All people, teaching the responsibilities and importance of family and community, being a voice for the less fortunate, learning the stewardship of the earth, and cultivating the gifts the divine has given each of us.

Still, our world continues to tell us we deserve to take, take, take in a selfish and self-serving manner, we need to instead speak Kofi Slocum’s watchwords, “Give, give, give” once again to instill and cultivate a servant heart in our midst.  

We, at First Friends must be committed to continually teaching and modeling a desire to serve and love others like we see in Paul Cuffe’s life. People are not automatically born with a servant's heart, it must be modeled, tested, nurtured, and learned among a community that is willing to sacrifice and utilize their gifts for the betterment of others.  

We must ask, are we serving ourselves more than we are serving others? Are we seeing and responding to those in need of support, love, and care within and around us?

This is why instead of being an organization or a church, we consider ourselves a Society of Friends – a society is a people who live together with a common purpose. For Quakers that purpose is to live out our testimonies or S.P.I.C.E.S. – Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship.  

So often today, we want to, or are taught to, do things all on our own, so we alone receive the notoriety and success, but Paul Cuffe displays a genuine need for the support of his Quaker Meeting and other local communities to do even greater things. 

As the first Black Sea Captain and first real successful black man in our country, he didn’t need money, he needed the mental, spiritual, and emotional support of a community that he could trust with his life, family, and work. Paul needed people to call on when things got tough. He needed people to stand with him when the world around him denied, rejected and even imprisoned him. He needed people who believed in him, respected him, and on occasion challenged him to be an even better person, citizen, father, and husband. And sadly, even with all this support, the imbedded social culture of racial prejudice of his day led to him not being able to fully see his aspirations fulfilled. 

This is why today; we have groups like American Friends Service Committee, Indiana Friends Committee on Legislation, and Friends Committee on National Legislation, because this work is never done. Just like Cuffe being supported to go back to Sierra Leone to work for change for slaves, AFSC, IFCL and FCNL are continuing this legacy to seek justice, dignity, and respect for ALL people in Indiana, the United States, and even the world. Friends in our Meeting, through these groups, are still working to free people from the slaveries brought on by our government and the legacy of oppressions we often unknowingly participate in. 

Now, when I was an Anglican Priest, to work outside of a church or parish, I needed the blessing of my bishop. When I went to serve as a Campus Pastor at Huntington University, I was given what was called “Missioner Status” and sent by my bishop and my entire Anglican Diocese. I have come to realize this is very similar to what we do among Friends. Paul Cuffe received a minute of approval to travel to Sierra Leone to Speak his Truth to Power about slavery.  

In the same manner, for those who did not attend our Business Meeting last week (or did not read it in Friend to Friend) you missed the Minute of Appreciation written by Ministry and Counsel for Mary Blackburn and her call to Creation Care work. Mary has not only been a creation care activist, but even more an educator in our midst passing down her call for dignity and respect for creation and challenging us to acknowledge and respond from our Quaker testimonies of Stewardship and Sustainability.

Just maybe, along with that minute of appreciation, we should also write a minute of travel for Mary Blackburn as she and David travel to Sequoia National Park each year to care for and protect the trees in the Giant Forrest. It would be a way of sending her with our support, so she may then share her work and learnings with us, our yearly meeting, and possibly the greater Quaker world, because we believe Mary is speaking her truth to power!

On our recent sabbatical, Sue and I visited the Sequoias and who did we think of while traveling up the mountains into the Giant Forrest, Mary Blackburn, because she has taught us so much about respecting, caring for, and her passion to save those trees.

And maybe you are discerning a call that has been placed on your heart this morning, and you want the wisdom and support of First Friends. Or you know a Friend who needs to be publicly appreciated for their work. These are ways that we as a body can recognize and support each other – through the difficult and the good times. This is acknowledging and freeing people to Speak their truth to Power.  And just maybe we too will raise our voice and be able to say as Paul Cuffe,

“My soul feels free to travel for the welfare of my fellow creatures both here and now.”

As we enter waiting worship, please take a moment to ponder these queries:

1.     Are we serving ourselves more than we are serving others?

2.     Are we seeing and responding to those in need of support, love, and care within and around us?

3.     How can we become an even better “Society of Friends” that encourages or acknowledges the gifts and work of others for the betterment of our world?

9-15-24 - Answering the Call—Lucretia Mott

Answering the Call—Lucretia Mott

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

September 15, 2024

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  Our scripture for this week is from Isaiah 58:11 out of the New Revised Standard Version.  

The Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your needs in parched places
    and make your bones strong,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water
    whose waters never fail.

Last week, we kicked off this new sermon series, Speak Truth to Power: The Legacy of Quakers by looking at where the term Speak Truth to Power originated and its meaning to Friends. As I stated last week, I believe it is vital to revisit the lives of influential Friends who spoke truth to power and learn what they can teach us, and how they are calling upon us to continue their legacy, today.

I will never forget my first Philadelphia Trip with our Youth Affirmation Class a few years ago. The reason we take the youth is because of the saturation of Quaker influence and history in Philadelphia and its impact on the founding of our country. At one time there were five Quaker meeting within the city blocks of historic Philadelphia. One of my highlights was visiting one of those five, Arch Street Meeting, which stands as an enduring symbol of the people who created Pennsylvania as a "Holy Experiment,” which I still remember learning about in my history books as a child here in Indiana.

Arch Street was built to house the men's and women's Yearly Meetings, which were the business sessions of the Religious Society of Friends for Philadelphia, and remains, still today, as one of the oldest active houses of worship in the City. 

Besides the history and the simplistic beauty of the building, while we were there our tour guide invited some of the women from our group to sit on the very bench where Lucretia Mott worshipped and learned to speak her truth to power at Arch Street Meeting. I snapped a photo of that moment, and it appears on the cover of our bulletin, today.   

Yet to really understand the depths of all that took place on that bench, I must give you a little bit of Lucretia Mott’s story.  Most of the stories I am going to use in this series will come from the website, Quaker Stories: Now and Then, Here and There.    

Lucretia Mott spent her first eleven years on Nantucket Island. From her time there, she took away her Quaker roots – obedience to the Inner Light expressed in action, and the Nantucket Way – life led with steadfastness, resilience, love of family, and a sense of humor. She and her mother developed a relationship that was deep and supportive. From Anna Coffin she learned to read early, to care for her younger siblings and others, to run a household, and to be responsible for the needs of herself and her family. With her mother’s help, she struggled to curb her tart tongue and control her temper.

From her father, Thomas Coffin, Lucretia gained a sense of just how big the world was. She spent time with him down on the wharf, encountering black, white, Portuguese, Native American, and Cape Verdean sailors and sea captains. She asked endless questions to satisfy her curiosity. When he returned from long voyages to trade for goods in South America or even China or to hunt for whales, she listened to his stories of faraway places and people. When he returned from a three-year trip that included capture of his ship, trials to try to recover it, and then the long trek over the mountains to Brazil to get a ship home, Lucretia gained a legacy of courage.

Spending time in Quaker meeting for worship two times a week was difficult for an energetic Lucretia but taught her to search for what God wanted her to do and the need for obedience to answers she received. When Elizabeth Coggleshall, a Public Friend, spoke in meeting for worship one Sunday about living simply, Lucretia was so moved she knew she had to act to show this obedience. Despite her love for the blue bows that adorned her shoes, she hurried home, found scissors, cut off the bows, and convinced her younger sister Eliza to do the same.

Throughout her life, Lucretia expressed her obedience to the call to correct injustices and take care of the poor, oppressed, and marginalized through her spoken ministry in her Quaker community but also in her actions in that community and in the wider world. And, more often than not, she sought to involve her family and friends in whatever action she chose. In this, she was supported by her husband James and her large extended family. They traveled with her to meetings, helped welcome the many visitors who came for support, advice, or participation in her action, joined with her to set up committees, and cared for her when the pace or turmoil was too great. When Lucretia decided to boycott all goods produced by slave labor, she gave up her favorite ice cream and her children their sugar and molasses candy.

Lucretia Mott spoke against slavery in Quaker meetings, so often some of her fellow worshipers admonished her to be quiet. She led women, black and white, to join her in the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Association. This group, not only gathered to call for an end of slavery. They also raised money to help poor families, encouraged the opening of schools for black children, and looked for ways to find jobs to empower self-support. And, she opened the hospitality of her home to black and white alike. When told she would not be seated as a delegate to a World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, she went anyway, speaking out against the exclusion of the women delegates. She traveled throughout England and Ireland raising her concerns, answering her critics, and showing respect for diverse views. 

It was during this time she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton and became her friend and mentor. Eight years later in 1848, the two joined by three other Quaker women initiated the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention in upstate New York, where a Declaration of Sentiments based on the Declaration of Independence was developed and approved. In it was a call of full citizenship for women including the right to vote and a statement of the ways in which women were kept from reaching their potential. This was an issue that was to consume her for the next 30+ years.

Lucretia Mott was a pacifist and believed strongly in non-resistance. Many times, she and others in anti-slavery and women’s rights work debated non-resistance especially during the Civil War. When family and friends chose to fight, she was saddened but continued to love and support. President Lincoln opened the ranks of the military to blacks and built a training camp, ironically called Camp William Penn, across from Lucretia’s home outside of Philadelphia. She visited the young recruits who were fighting for a freedom they had never had, spoke to them about her hope that a time would come when wars were not needed, and brought fruits and vegetables from her gardens to enhance their bland food. She enlisted a young friend who had encountered the beauty of black spirituals during her teaching in freedmen’s schools to come and sing for and with the soldiers. When they departed, she sent them off with prayers for their safety. 

While her energy declined in her last years, she knew she had been faithful in her duty to be obedient to her Inner Light and to live and speak her truth. She even grew to accept her anger and use it to lead her to action. She had lost many of those she loved, but she was still surrounded by family and friends. At the graveside service, there was a silence. “Who will speak?” Another answered, “No one. The preacher is dead.”

Obviously, I cannot go into detail about all of Lucretia’s life in one sermon, but I hope these highlights have whet your appetite to learn more. I encourage you to utilize our library and check out a book about her. 

For today’s purposes, I think there are several takeaways for us. 

The first is Lucretia’s insatiable curiosity. I know the Sunday before I returned from my sabbatical, Eric Baker gave a wonderful message about our need for curiosity. I find in many circles today curiosity is a more acceptable way to talk about raising questions or admitting doubts, but it is essential to our journey of faith.

A couple of years ago for Christmas, Sue and I bought Beth Henricks some desk items to spruce up her office. One sits on the front of her desk and exclaims, “Ask More Questions.”  I always sense Beth is channeling the spirit of Lucretia Mott because, if you know her, she always loves to ask a bunch of questions. Often, it makes me realize, even feel guilty, that I don’t ask enough questions.

Folks, there is nothing wrong with being curious. It helps us get to what is really going on. It helps us see the real needs, and helps us know how to respond.   

We should be more like Lucretia in this way in our world, today. Her determination to be curious led her to ask some very important questions.  From the who’s it will affect, to the why’s of inequalities, to the how’s of injustices, to the when’s of speaking truth to power.

As well, her questions led her to seek ways to respond. On many occasions while sitting on that Meeting bench in Arch Street Meeting, Lucretia heard the Spirit’s call to action and she rose from that bench and changed her world.

I often wonder, who is sitting amidst our pews here at First Friends that is hearing the Spirit’s call and is obediently ready to respond?

Or for whom will young people come here in 200 years to sit and take a photo where that person heard the Spirit’s call, responded, and changed their world? 

Every week during the Children’s Message, I think there are some curious Lucretia Motts in that bunch.  But I also see the same for the adults.  Each week we all are one step closer to having the courage to speak our truth to power in our own unique ways. 

It is amazing to think that 176 years ago a young feminist Lucretia Mott rose from her Arch Street bench and headed to Seneca Falls for the first Women’s Rights Convention. And for 30 of the next 72 years, her patient, demanding work saw the 19th amendment be ratified and women receive the right to vote in our country. And her legacy continues on, without Lucretia Mott and the other women at Seneca Falls, we would not, this year, have the possibility of a woman of color holding the highest office in this land. Talk about a continued legacy that opened doors and shatters ceilings for decades and generations.  Not saying there is not more work to do, but her call is still being heralded.   

And let’s bring her back to a realistic and human level once more. We must not forget that this trail blazer lost her temper on occasion, raised her voice, she let her passions get the best of her, and that probably made her not as lady-like as the society would dictate in her day. It is clear that the men of the day used this against her. As well, at times she would ramble on and on, until even her fellow Quakers would ask her to be silent. But amid her flaws, her uncontrolled passions, she persisted, she fought, she spoke up, and she did it through genuine love and with authentic support of a diversity of people who called her Friend.  I don’t know about you, but I can relate to this Quaker saint.

And when we continue this legacy, we too may hear her words speaking to us today…

Those who go forth ministering to the wants and necessities of their fellow beings experience a rich return, their souls being as a watered garden, and a spring that faileth not.

If you didn’t notice, she was quoting our scripture for this morning.

Lucretia went forth ministering and she is calling us to follow her. May we all hear the Spirit’s call and Speak our Truth to Power like Lucretia Mott, this day!

As we head into a time of waiting worship, I ask you to ponder the following queries:

1.     How may my curiosity lead to more action? What questions do I need to be asking?

2.     Have I heard a call from the Spirit that I have not responded to? What should I do about it?  And if not, how might I open myself up to hearing that call?

9-8-24 - Speak Truth to Power – The Legacy of Quakers

Speak Truth to Power – The Legacy of Quakers

\Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

September 8, 2024

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. At the meetinghouse today we are celebrating Kick-Off Sunday.  The scripture I chose for this morning is from John 17:13-19 from the Voice version.

Now I am returning to You. I am speaking this prayer here in the created cosmos alongside friends and foes so that in hearing it they might be consumed with joy. I have given them Your word; and the world has despised them because they are not products of the world, in the same way that I am not a product of the corrupt world order. Do not take them out of this world; protect them from the evil one. Like Me, they are not products of the corrupt world order. Immerse them in the truth, the truth Your voice speaks. In the same way You sent Me into this world, I am sending them. It is entirely for their benefit that I have set Myself apart so that they may be set apart by truth.

Since it is Kick-Off Sunday, as usual, I am kicking off a new sermon series that I have been looking forward to for quite some time. I do hope the previous weeks since I returned from my Sabbatical, where we focused on joy, were beneficial and spoke to your condition. 

For the next couple of months, we will be looking at some famous Quakers and some you may have never heard of.  Each sermon will begin with me telling a bit of their story and then spending the rest of the time talking about how their story is still applicable today or how we may be called to continue their legacy. 

Often, I hear Friends talk about how earlier Quakers laid a foundation of activism, social justice, and seeking Truth. Yet, many outside Quakerism then ask, “What happened? Where is that action today? Have Quakers simply become complacent, comfortable, even lazy?  Or are Quakers still relevant and empowered today to Speak Truth to Power?

As I hope to show you over the next couple of months, Friends are still being called to Speak Truth to Power. This may come in the ordinary aspects of our daily lives, or it may be much bolder and lived out in a much more public manner.  I hope in this series, you will see yourselves in these ordinary people who aren’t that much different than you and me.  They heard the call, spoke up for truth, and changed the world!  And you and I have this potential as well.

To begin this morning, I want to talk about that phrase I have used a couple of times already – Speak Truth to Power – actually, the title of this sermon series.

I first came across it when I was doing research for my doctoral dissertation.  At the conclusion of my first class, I had been encouraged by my professor to study how one prepares for conflict in their life, a subject that I sensed the church universal, and ordinary Christians struggled with on a regular basis.  What I had observed is that most of the time, instead of preparing for conflict that may arise or how to transform it into positive experiences, most of us are simply reactive or get consumed by the conflict and then (after the fact) look for ways to relieve the tensions.

I had written an extensive paper on Gandhi’s influence on Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement, which was the impetus for this study on preparing for conflict since Gandhi posed a plan that King had begun to utilize.  Unbeknownst to me, I discovered in my study that it was a Quaker who introduced King to Gandhi’s work. Since my dissertation supervisor was a Quaker and I was personally beginning to find my home among Friends, I decided to ask him what he knew of this connection. Instead of just giving me the answer, he encouraged me to read further and make some more associations. 

The most important reading he suggested was one titled, Speak Truth to Power: A Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence, which did not have a single author, but rather was published by the American Friends Service Committee in 1955.

I quickly immersed myself in this document. What I found was what is considered the most lucid pacifist tract ever penned in the United States (even still today). It raised the basic questions about what people should be, and do, to end war and establish peace – whose principles I quickly realized could be adapted down to our daily conflicts in ordinary life.

H. Larry Engle gives a historical context in his retrospective on the “Speak Truth to Power” pamphlet saying,

Unfortunately for the pamphlet’s immediacy, the Montgomery bus boycott, which gave Martin Luther King. Jr., an opportunity to charge words like love and truth with a new and electric political meaning, was still more than six months in the future. To demonstrate the practicality of nonviolence, “Speak Truth to Power” drew instead on the example of Gandhi’s Indian independence campaign. Emphasizing that each individual had to renounce violence (“for war grows directly from the accumulated prejudices. selfishness, greed and arrogance of individual men”), the authors called on each person to take a committed stand so that “the impossible moves nearer to the possible.”

Not only was this document pivotal for my dissertation it was stirring in me a desire to know who was really behind this work. I had started to put some pieces together, because I had been introduced to a Quaker who was teaching the principles of Gandhi, and he was alive and at his peak of influence when this document was drafted. But strangely his name was nowhere to be found on the document. 

If one simply did a search on the phrase and title, Speak Truth to Power, one would quickly find out that something was up.  I assumed as many have in history that I would find this going back to early Quakerism or even earlier, but the phrase, Speak Truth to Power has been attributed to Quaker civil rights activist Bayard Rustin (the Quaker who influenced Dr. King), who wrote in 1942 that the role of a religious group was to “speak truth to power.” Rustin himself attributed the phrase to a speech he had hear by Patrick Malin, a professor of economics at the Quaker Swarthmore College and head of the ACLU from 1950-1962. But in that talk, he never used that phrase. 

Several decades after the Speak Truth to Power document was written, it was made known that Bayard Rustin was one of the authors, if not the principle author of the document.  Rustin and his co-authors had agreed to expunge Rustin’s name from the document because of his arrest on charges of committing a homosexual act in 1953 (because back then homosexuality was literally a crime). He served 50 days in jail and was registered as a sex offender. (and sadly, this is what some people in our country want us to go back to.) While his sexual orientation resulted in him taking a less public role, it did not stop his groundbreaking work of organizing the March on Washington where Dr. King shared his dream. (If you have not seen the movie Rustin, which we watched at our first Film Night here at First Friends several months ago, go watch it on Netflix).

Finally in September of 2010, a historical note was added by American Friends Service Committee to the Speak Truth to Power document that restored Rustin’s name as the primary author.  It took 55 years for this to fully be recognized and made know. 

It seems almost ironic, that a black, gay man during some of the most difficult times in our country for all that he was, not only coined the phrase but also lived the idea of Speaking Truth to Power daily from the shadows, and all amid his life being threatened, constantly. 

Yet for Rustin speaking his truth to power was, as he said on numerous occasions, because he was a Quaker. Rustin had been taught to respond in this Quaker manner by his dear Quaker grandmother, Julia David Rustin who raised him.

Julia would have taught Bayard that Quakers have always known that the quest for truth has an important role to play in wider society and political life.  When a Quaker speaks truth to power, it means we feel that something important needs to be said, and we must make the effort to say it to the people who need to hear it and have the power to effect change. That is exactly what Rustin did (and you will find this common among ever Quaker we talk about in this series). 

I love the way Quakers in Britian describe this,

“Speaking truth” suggests an external expression of an internally received insight, an outward faithfulness to a spiritually experienced truth. It comes from the heart, from a place of love. Saying it “to power” implies courage to speak that truth to those who may not want to hear it and are in a position to punish you. Faithfulness and courage: speaking truth to power describes an intention of moving the world towards the Realm of God.

That is what Bayard Rustin lived, shared with Dr. King to shape his dream, inspired generations to speak, and calls us as Quakers to recognize as foundational to our faith.

And as always, I find it essential that we do not miss that Jesus in his prayer for each of us (which you heard as part of our scripture for today) said, “Immerse them in the truth, the truth Your voice speaks.”

Folks, when we speak truth to power both individually or as a Meeting – we are tapping into the voice of the Divine within us and making it known where otherwise it may not be heard.  I wonder what Truth the Spirit is nudging us to immerse ourselves in and make our voices heard?   

As you begin to reflect on that, let me leave you with some inspiring words of Bayard Rustin from the conclusion of the “Speak Truth to Power” pamphlet (you can read the entire document on the American Friends Service Committee website (sadly, you may find much of it as relevant today as it was in 1955) – I will post the link on Facebook later today). Listen to what Rustin says for us, this morning (please note, I have changed the word men/man to people to include all),   

The politics of eternity works not by might but by spirit; a Spirit whose redemptive power is released among [people] through suffering endured on behalf of the evildoer, and in obedience to the divine command to love all [people]. Such love is worlds apart from the expedient of loving those who love us, of doing good to those who

have done good to us. It is the essence of such love that it does not require an advance guarantee that it will succeed, will prove easy or cheap, or that it will be met with swift answering love. Whether practiced by [people] or nations, it well may encounter opposition, hate, humiliation, utter defeat. In the familiar words of the epistle, such love suffers long, is always kind, never fails. It is a principle deeply grounded in the years of Quaker sufferings, imprisonments and death. From the dungeons of Lancaster Castle Friends spoke this Truth to Power: "But if ... not ... then shall wee lye downe in the peace of our God and patiently Suffer under you." that overcomes the world.

To act on such a faith, the politics of eternity demand of us, first, repentance. As individuals and as a nation we must literally turn about. We must turn from our self-righteousness and arrogance and confess that we do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord. We must turn from the substitution of material for spiritual values; we must turn not only from our use of mass violence but from what is worse, our readiness to use this violence whenever it suits our purpose, regardless of the pain it inflicts on others. We must turn about.

That does not only speak to our condition still today, it is the call to raise our voices and lives and join Rustin in the legacy of Speaking Truth to Power for the betterment of all. 

Later in this series, we will return to Bayard Rustin again and look at what he meant for us to be Angelic Troublemakers.  Until then, I hope you will take a moment to center down and consider how you Speak Truth to Power. To help you with considering this, here are some queries to ponder.  

1.     What can I do this week to “immerse myself in Truth”?

2.     What Truth am I neglecting to speak to power because of fear of push-back or punishment?

3.     Who am I being called to speak up for, today?