One Day Among Quakers (Shorts)
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
September 13, 2020
2 Corinthians 4:7-12 (MSG)
7-12 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!
Good morning, Friends! It is good to be with you in the comfort of your own homes, today. I pray this finds you safe and well.
Alright, it is confession time. Now, that may seem rather alarming coming from a Quaker minister (especially one that used to be an Anglican Priest). Yet, in all seriousness, I am the one confessing, today.
I need to confess that one of my guilty pleasures during the pandemic has been watching Disney+.
Let me explain…when I find I have some down time (which isn’t that often), I can’t seem to get enough of the documentaries and story driven series on Disney+.
Most people (and especially kids) probably just skip over them to watch the blockbuster movies and cartoons (even though I have watched some of those as well).
Since a very young child, I have been enamored, curious and all about exploring behind the scenes how things came about, and the stories of those whose creativity made the magic possible.
Now, before this becomes a full-on commercial for Disney+, I have to say, there are two docu-series that have had me completely absorbed - Imagineering and One Day at Disney.
Since my first trip to Disney World back when I was in 1st grade (well, unless you count when I went in my pregnant mother’s belly the first year Disney World in Florida opened), I have always dreamed of being an Imagineer and working in the research, development, and creative arm at Disney.
So, to have an entire docu-series that explores and unveils what’s happening “behind the curtain” seemed beyond my wildest dreams.
Well, this past holiday weekend, it was the “One Day at Disney (Shorts)” that had my attention.
If you are not familiar with “One Day at Disney” it is a docu-series which highlights the diverse group of people behind some of Disney’s most magical stories. It introduces you to the people who spend each day bringing magic to life in their unique and exciting ways, and how they help create heartwarming moments for people around the world.
One Day at Disney is both a full-length documentary and an accompanying book, but the “One Day at Disney (Shorts)” introduce you, in a 4-7min. video, to a cast member and their passions. So far there are 40 of these shorts and Disney’s plan is for, I believe about, 52.
So, now that I have you all wanting to change your channel and jump over to Disney+ or start a subscription, let me explain why I confessed to this and shared this with you.
Today in this sermon, I want to do something a bit different. I guess Disney inspired me (it has that effect on people).
This morning, I want to present to you a kind of “One Day Among Quakers (Shorts).”
Being the site-project liaison for our Associate Pastor, Beth’s Supervised Ministry with First Friends where I have the opportunity to help guide her in developing a version of our Quaker Affirmation Program for adults, has had my mind full of ideas and possibilities.
Also, for many years, I have been trying to figure out some new way to introduce some known and unknown Quakers and their stories to a new generation of people.
Since Disney has taught us that most people only have a 4-7 minute attention span, the “One Day at Disney” model may be workable.
So, this morning, with Friend Catherine Whitmire’s brief introductions of Quakers and their stories from her book, “Practicing Peace”, I want to introduce you to three diverse and unique Quakers from our past.
You may have heard of these Friends, or you may not have. Their stories and lives speak not only to our foundations and ongoing testimony, but also to our condition. My hope is that they will inspire and empower you in having a passion for making a difference in our world, today!
Let me begin our first “One Day Among Quakers (Short)” by introducing you to a weighty and well-known Friend, Lucretia Mott.
Lucretia Mott grew up during the 1800s in a close Quaker community on Nantucket Island where she watched fishermen, farmers, shopkeepers, and housewives – people with no extraordinary power – working to overcome the evils of slavery, violence, and warfare.
And through observing her community’s efforts, she saw that ordinary people can resist and overcome evil through prayer, speaking out, and direct action.
The lessons Lucretia learned as a child about using everyday means to confront evil inspired her later work as an abolitionist. In 1851 she and a group of women from the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society
came to the aid of a group that included thirty-eight blacks and three whites, many unfairly arrested and imprisoned for resisting arrest as part of a complicated case involving runaway slaves.
Lucretia and her friends not only allied to provide the prisoners with warm clothing and moral support, they also developed an imaginative plan to get them acquitted.
The prosecution in the trial had to positively identify the defendants as those who had resisted arrest. On the day of the trial the defendants entered the courtroom for the first time, dressed alike and wearing red, white, and blue scarves around their necks.
Lucretia and the women from the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society sat in the courtroom visitor’s gallery, knitting furiously, and “they did not so much as glance at their protégés, but it was clear to the reporters that they were responsible for the appearance of the prisoners.”
Since the defendants were wearing identical clothes, the witnesses for the prosecution could not positively identify any particular man, and the jury found them not guilty.
The disgruntled judge claimed the jury’s not guilty decision was the fault of “meddlesome abolitionists” and “itinerant female agitators.”
Lucretia Mott and her friends overcame evil with good by using their imaginations and their knitting needles. We, too, can resist evil and affirm our humanity through resourceful, everyday means.
We can learn the language and culture of those with whom our country is at war, express our concerns for peace in song and theatre, surprise our critics with expressions of love and acceptance, and organize innovative ways to call public attention to homelessness and racism in our local communities.
Since no good is ever wasted, any imaginative, loving expressions we offer the world, no matter how small, will make a difference in overcoming evil and building the Commonwealth of God on Earth.
Our Next “One Day Among Quakers (Shorts)” highlights Hazel and Al Starr and their grandson, Cerrone Hemingway.
In 1998, Emma Hazel Harrison and Al Starr chose to forego vengeance when their vibrant fifteen-year-old grandson,
Cerrone Hemingway, was killed by a bullet in a backyard in Boston while witnessing an argument over a gold chain.
Shortly after Cerrone’s memorial service, Hazel attended another funeral where she happened to fall into conversation about her grandson’s death with a woman she met after the service. The woman listened attentively, asked Hazel for details, and then quietly said; “I don’t know how to tell you this, but my son has been arrested for your grandson’s murder.” When the impact of this stunning revelation sank in, instead of feeling repulsed that they had each lost loved ones to the same tragedy, one to death and one to prison. They cried, hugged one another and began what has become an ongoing relationship of mutual support.
Al, Cerrone’s Quaker grandfather, directed his energies toward helping people afflicted by other kinds of trama. Al reflects that their experience made “an automatic connection for us with those who suffer from violence and injustice everywhere, whether it be fellow survivors of murdered children in Boston, or victims of bombings in Iraq or Kosovo.”
He says that as a direct consequence of Cerrone’s death, during the 1999 war in Kosovo, he had an undeniable leaning, “where it was as though God was pointing directly at me, saying, You!...You help these people!” Al then helped bring a traumatized three-generation family of seven from Kosovo and supported them as they began a new life in Boston.
Hazel and Al could have reacted to Cerrone’s death by demanding vengeance. Instead, they responded to their deep loss with compassionate activism. Their activism, however, has not erased the pain of their grandson’s death.
As Hazel says, “You never get over something like that; it is always with you.” Hazel became even more active in her grandchildren’s lives in an effort to help them avoid what happened to Cerrone. She also became involved in the Living After Murder Program, which once named her Activist of the Year.
Because vengeance is such a powerful and destructive emotion, the Bible cautions that only God, not humankind, can assume responsibility for carrying it out: “Vengeance is mine: I will repay, says the Lord.” But when we forgo vengeance, like Emma Hazel Harrison and Al Starr, we can end a cycle of violence, heal some part of ourselves, and help restore the world to wholeness and peace.
For our third and final “One Day Among Quakers (Shorts)” let me introduce you to Emily Green Balch.
When the winds of nationalism swept across the country during World War I, college professor Emily Green Balch was among those who paid a significant price for remaining faithful to her pacifist religious convictions.
A dedicated economics professor at Wellesley College, Emily did not believe that dissent equaled disloyalty, so she actively supported the anti-war efforts of her students, helped organize marches against the war, and gave lectures on peace.
When the college demanded that she give up her antiwar activities, she refused on grounds of faith, and the college terminated her contract. In response to her firing, Emily wrote to the Wellesley Board of Trustees:
“I find it so impossible to reconcile war with the truths of Jesus’ teaching, that even now I am obliged to give up the happiness of full and unquestioned cooperation where the responsibility of choice is mine.”
Emily spent the rest of her life working to create international peace-building opportunities for women. She helped organize the International Congress of Women,
which convened at the Hague in 1915 and collaborated in assembling other forums that brought thousands of women into international politics for the first time.
She also encouraged women to form communities where they could support one another in their peacemaking activities, because she knew from personal experience of nationalistic conformity.
Emily became one of the founders of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, which dedicated itself to building pathways to peacemaking that are still followed today.
She was the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedoms’ secretary from 1919 to 1922, became its honorary president in 1937, and for her visionary work was co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946.
Emily Green Balch dedicated her life creating openings and organizations for practicing peace. As part of her visionary work, she encouraged people to look for God’s universal and uniting truths that transcend nationalistic identities. She wrote:
“Friends, let us not forget as far as we can, those things which divide us . . . There are no superior races. There are no inferior races. Let us learn to think of ourselves as members of that great race which is the human race. Wherever we pass upon the earth, let us be at home.”
So, I hope you have enjoyed our first three “One Day Among Quakers (Shorts).” I hope they have inspired and even empowered you during these difficult times to see what God may be asking of your ordinary life.
As Beth read today in our scriptures,
We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary 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!
Let us, the ordinary, arise and be the change, the voice, the risk-takers – let us allow our Inner Christ to shine brightly in all of our endeavors, and may we make our world a better place for everyone! It is now our turn to be Living Testimonies in our own unique and exciting way!
As we enter waiting worship, I ask you to ponder some queries as to what God may be saying to you, today.
What imaginative, loving expressions may I offer to make a difference in overcoming the evil in the world?
What vengeances must I forego to help end the cycle of violence, bring healing, and restore the world to wholeness and peace?
Where will I look for God’s universal and uniting truths that transcend nationalistic identities?