10-3-21 - Resilience and Hope: Drawing Strength from Our Quaker Faith

Resilience and Hope: Drawing Strength from Our Quaker Faith

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

October 3, 2021

Good morning and Happy World Quaker Day!  I am so glad you joined us for Light Reflections.  Today, our scripture passage is from Romans 5:3-5 (from the Message version):

3-5 There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

In a world still suffering from so much, it makes total sense that for World Quaker Day we would be considering resilience and hope and drawing strength from our Quaker faith. 

Throughout the pandemic, we learned firsthand about resilience and finding hope.  And part of that learning, was realizing that as Quakers we are inherently resilient and people who believe deeply in hope and a better tomorrow. 

Yet this week, I began to ponder what it was, about hope specifically, that was unique among Quakers.  Because for most of us, whether Quaker or not, there is always something deep inside us longing for something we don’t currently have – something we hope for.

So, as I often do, I decided to research hope from a Quaker perspective and explore its many dimensions. Quaker Kate Davies, a member of Whidbey Island (Wash.) Meeting and author of Intrinsic Hope: Living Courageously in Troubled Times, seemed to be the perfect expert to help shed some light on hope and give us something to wrestle with this morning. She wrote an article for Friends Journal called, “A Quaker Perspective of Hope” which I will quoting from throughout my sermon.

Davies begins by defining two different types of hope – extrinsic hope and altruistic hope. 

She defines extrinsic hope coming from a sense of dissatisfaction or the perception that there’s a problem, combined with the desire for whatever we believe will make us feel better or resolve the dilemma.

For example, if I say “I hope to lose weight,” I am dissatisfied with my weight; I am identifying a problem and am wishing for a specific solution.

Extrinsic hopes can often be selfish, or they can also be self-less and concerned for the well-being of others.  This is what Davies labels altruistic hope. 

Quakers are known historically for having altruistic hopes.  Even during a deadly pandemic, Quakers did not lose hope but continued to make their voices known.

Quakers throughout the world showed their altruistic hope during the pandemic by continuing to seek an end to discrimination and racism, working to end poverty, addressing homelessness, educating on climate change, pollution, and the consumer society. 

Even in the midst of suffering and struggle Quakers show resilience and continue to hope for a just, peaceful, and a sustainable world where we all equally may live together in unity.

Davies says that these altruistic hopes are usually regarded as more worthy or virtuous than self-centered ones, so it’s even easier to expect that life should give us what we hope for.

I don’t know about you, but if life is inherently good, shouldn’t it comply with our well-intentioned wishes for others?  

I think we have bought into this thinking on many occasions – especially during the last couple of years.  We hoped and even expected things to change, but they didn’t.

This is because life just doesn’t work this way.

Davies points out that our altruistic hopes may be extremely noble, but this is no guarantee they will be fulfilled any more than self-centered ones. This can be very discouraging and cause us to lose hope over time.

Folks, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with extrinsic hope, sometimes it is what helps us cope with difficult or painful situations, and sometimes it gives us a goal to focus on.

This explains why extrinsic hope is so common.

Just think about it: Davies says,

“…whenever you have an extrinsic hope, it gives you something to look forward to, something to anticipate with pleasure. But this type of hope is always accompanied by the fear of not getting what we hope for, and by disappointment, sadness, anger, and other unpleasant emotions when we don’t get it. These difficult feelings are indicators of unmet expectations, and they come up often because there is a lot we cannot control in life.”

This has been made extremely clear over the past couple of years.  If there is one thing that has continued to be the center of attention, it is our lack of control and the disappointment, sadness, anger and deep-felt emotions that have accompanied that lack of control.

This is because a dissonance has arisen between our extrinsic hopes and our inability to attain them making it inevitable that we will experience this lack of control and its corresponding emotional reactions. Davies says,

“The gap between what we hope for and the way life actually is ensures these emotions. Even though our extrinsic hopes may be extremely noble and altruistic, the more desperately we want to attain them and the more specific they are, the more emotional suffering we will experience when life doesn’t go our way.”

Therefore I believe currently we are seeing a mounting frustration and unsettledness in our personal lives, in our Meeting, and in our world.

So, what does Quakerism have to say to this situation, especially since we are saying we are a resistant people full of hope. 

To see this, we must return to the dictionary and look past that first definition of hope (desire, expectation, and fulfillment) and land on the second which is based on faith.  

Davies points out that this type of hope is about trusting life without the expectations of attaining particular outcomes. It is a hope which has an unshakeable faith in whatever happens and the human capacity to respond in a constructive and hopeful manner. 

This is a positive, but not necessarily optimistic, attitude to life that does not depend on external conditions or circumstances.

Davies calls this “intrinsic hope” because it comes from deep inside us.

Former president of Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel said in his book, Disturbing the Peace that hope

“…is a dimension of the soul, and it’s not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. . . It is an orientation of the spirit, and orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons.”

Just maybe then, intrinsic hope could be seen as that of God in everyone; the inner light; the quiet, still voice; and the experience of the Divine within.

I am starting to think that this message really fits into the worship series we have been working through for the last 3 weeks.  Because intrinsic hope must be part of our worship and our worshipping community.

As George Fox advised in an epistle to Friends in America some 20 years after his 1656 counsel,

“Hold fast the hope which anchors the soul, which is sure and steadfast, that you may float above the world’s sea.”

Fox is making the point that intrinsic hope is about accepting the waves and storms of life, and working with them.

It is about aspiring to something rather than expecting it.

It is about seeking possibilities rather than anticipating the worst.

With intrinsic hope, you and I can aspire to see an end to discrimination, racism, poverty, homelessness, and so on, and we can aspire to help create a better world, but we don’t expect life to conform to our wishes any time soon.

Davies says,

“Intrinsic hope says yes to whatever happens—whether we like it or not—because if we lose hope and give up, then all the gloomy predictions about the future will become a reality. And if we dwell on our extrinsic hopes, we will continue to feel sadness, despair, and anger whenever life does not give us what we want. But if we can live from intrinsic hope, we will be able to stay positive and engaged even in the darkest of times. And in doing so, we can influence whether there will be a viable future for our children, their children, and all future generations of life on earth.”

In one of my favorite books, Practicing Peace by Catherine Whitmire, she quotes another of my favorite quaker mystics, Thomas Kelly. 

I believe his worlds perfectly describe intrinsic hope and could have literally been written during our current times. Let these words conclude our thoughts today and help us lean into intrinsic hope and our Quaker faith to make a difference in our world.  

In such a world as ours today, no light glib word of hope dare be spoken. . . . Only if we look long and deeply into the abyss of despair do we dare to speak of hope. . . We dare not tell people to hope in God . . . unless we know what it means to have absolutely no other hope but in God. But as we know something of such a profound and amazing assurance, clear at the depths of our beings, then we dare to proclaim it boldly in the midst of a world aflame.

Now, as we enter waiting worship, let us umbly present ourselves before the Divine in expectant waiting for teaching, transformation, love and HOPE!

To help us process these thoughts Friends World Committee on Consultation has provided the following queries:

·        How do you understand resilience and hope? Is this different from your Quaker neighbor?

·        What elements of your Quaker faith enable you to have resilience and hope?

·        How does being part of an international Quaker community help provide you with strength?

9-26-21 - Quaker Worship: Community (Part 3)

Quaker Worship: Community (Part 3)

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

September 26, 2021

Good morning and welcome to Light Reflections.  Today, we are continuing our exploration of Quaker Worship by looking at community.  Our text for this morning is Hebrews 10:22-25.  

So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.

A few years ago, I decided I was tired of the word “community” in religious circles.  I went as far as to write an article that showed up in a couple different media sources about my evolving understanding.  The article began with me saying,

“Community" is a buzzword today. It is overused, misused, confused and rather annoying at times. I used to think it seemed pretty elementary, but when done religiously, I find it much more complicated. If asked, we probably all would have a slightly different idea of what good community looks like.

Now, I am sure if we took a moment right now and each shared our definitions – we too would have a wide range of understandings of just what community is to each of us.  

Actually, it was in my exploration of the idea of “community” that my understanding began to evolve.  In the article, I said…

Personally, I’ve had a few misconceptions about what constitutes community, one being the idea that everyone should be “best friends."

When I have pictured good community in the past, I usually think of myself in a group of really great friends. We get together on an autumn evening, have a cookout, talk about the “deep stuff," all the while making light of the greater mysteries of life.

Obviously, in this scenario of good community my happiness is very important.

If I am experiencing true community, I know that I am pleased with the way things are going. My friends are always looking out for me, I feel supported, and I am comfortably content.

Over time, I have realized I was wrong about what constitutes true community. I have decided that one of the best, and most difficult, ways to live in community is to spend time with people who are not exactly like me (and maybe not my friends).

Knowing the way the Divine works, it is most likely that God doesn’t encourage fellowship with one another for the sole purpose of our own satisfaction. God probably has something for us to learn through community.

This is when I started to look at scripture.

For instance, in Romans 12:4-5 it states,

4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

This shows how even though we are all part of the same body, we all have different roles. We have each been given gifts that we are to use for unique purposes. As people who are hopefully striving toward similar goals, we should appreciate one another’s unique gifts.

Instead of thinking that everyone should do things the way that we would, we are to appreciate the diversity that God has placed within the body.

Once I realized this beautiful aspect of community, I thought I was content, until I found Ephesians 4:2-3.

Paul is talking to the Ephesians, again about being united as a body. He urges them to recognize each other’s individual callings. He also tells them to

“be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace."

I don’t know about you, but I am really good at knowing when others need to make an effort to be humble or patient. I can point out when someone should be better at bearing with me in love.

And, honestly, my Inner Light or Inner Christ often convicts me about playing my part as well.

But what hit me when reading this passage was the command to “make every effort."

I may be completely justified in the fact that I do just enough, but have I done all I can to be united with my sisters and brothers?  That changes things a bit.

Perhaps the Bible encourages us to love one another and to be united because it helps us take the focus off ourselves.

I cannot control how other people respond to me.

I cannot make them be what they should.

All I can do is what I have been asked.

And uncomfortably for me, I have been asked to do a lot. I am asked to get my attitude right, no matter what the other person is doing.

I am to love at all times.

This love for others – whether or not they love me back – is part of my responsibility in encouraging a worshipping community.

Part of what a worshipping community teaches us is to slowly and sometimes painfully begin to think about others, to forgive others (as Mary Blackburn reminded us in our in-person waiting worship last week), and to bear with one another.

That means taking the focus off ourself is about being part of a worshipping community. This is another aspect of that positioning I spoke of two Sundays ago where we place ourselves in a humble manner before the Divine so we are able to be taught, transformed, and loved. 

Yet too often I cocoon myself within my community.

I use my desire for fellowship with other people as an excuse to ignore those who do not want to live in the manner of Friends or the way of Christ. This quickly can become a country club environment or maybe for us a “secret society.”

Isn’t this the opposite of what we are supposed to be doing as a worshipping community?

Community is less about a great group of people who can make me feel loved and important, and more about how I can try to love those around me, and in turn, how together we can show God’s love to those around us.

Quaker Rex Ambler in his book, “The Quaker Way” has a chapter focused on Meeting Others.  By meeting together and opening up to one another in a worshipping community, he says “we find strength and insight, and a basis for action” – but he also says “it means we take a responsibility for one another.”

As worship has become more about styles and preferences as I discussed a couple weeks ago, taking responsibility for one another has become lost. 

As he closes out this chapter Rex specifically talks about worshipping together in community.  He says,

Our practice of coming together once a week to sit in silence [or Meeting for Worship] makes sense ONLY IF we have learned to do that during the week and have gotten to know the people we sit with in ordinary, everyday interactions. 

How well do you know the people you worship with at First Friends? How much are you willing to let them know? These are important questions and I believe are the crux of what it means to be a part of a Quaker Worshipping Community.

This is because being a worshipping community is a holistic experience that incorporates both a responsibility for one another and a desire to get to know one another in a more holistic way.  

Folks, this means a Quaker Worship Community will be asked to take risks. 

Quaker Marty Walton in “The Meeting Experience: Practicing Quakerism in Community,” says,

“We cannot stay in safety, hidden behind walls of private thoughts, with aloof smiles on our faces…When we move beyond our protective barriers, lift up our shroud of privacy a bit, and begin to ask each other real questions and engage each other in honest searching, we inevitably discover how very different each of us is. We are confronted with experiences both delightful and confounding.”

Not only does worshipping in community challenge our understanding of each other, but as it states in Quaker Faith and Practice,

“Worship is our response to an awareness of God. We can worship alone, BUT when we join with others in expectant waiting, we may discover a deeper sense of God’s Presence.”

A few years ago, I may have been ready to throw out the word, “community,” but folks, the more I look at it in light of worship, I realize it is essential. 

New England Yearly Meeting has this statement in their Faith and Practice that I would love for us to affirm at First Friends.  It sums up what I have been trying to say in this sermon about being a worshipping community.

Just listen to how they describe the Worshipping Community in the Manner of Friends.

“The nature of their purpose and quest as Friends binds members of a meeting and of the whole Society into an intimate fellowship whose unity is not threatened by the diversity of leadings and experiences which may come to individual Friends.

To share in the experience of the Presence in corporate worship, to strive to let Divine Will guide one’s life, to uphold others in prayer, to live in a sense of unfailing Love, is to participate in a spiritual adventure in which Friends come to know one another and to respect one another at a level where differences of age or sex, of wealth or position, of education or vocation, or face or nation are all irrelevant.

Within this sort of fellowship, as in a family, griefs and joys, fear and hopes, failures and accomplishment are naturally shared, even as individuality and independence are scrupulously respected.”

That is the definition of a Quaker Worshipping Community.

So, how might we at First Friends work on continuing to develop this worshipping community in our midst?  Let me give us some suggestions (some of these we may already be doing – but they are always good reminders for us to consider):

1.      Start from what each of us knows from our own experience.

2.      Foster deep, satisfying worship.

3.      Encourage Friends to seek and respond to the Inner Guide (Light, Christ)

4.      Practice careful use of Quaker process in conducting business.

5.      Encourage regular attendance at both meeting for worship and meeting for  business.

6.      Welcome newcomers and help them integrate with the group.

7.      Encourage social networks based on friendship, work, hobbies, or shared  activities such as music-making.

8.      Provide a variety of small group activities.

9.      All contribute financially as able.

10.  Work together on maintaining the meetinghouse or on service projects.

11.  Provide opportunities where Friends can share deeply with one another.

12.  Take individual leadings to the meeting for discernment.

13.  Support one another.

14.  Hold one another accountable.

15.  Actively mentor people into positions of responsibility.

16.  Provide opportunities for spiritual sharing and growth.

17.  Provide opportunities to learn more about Quakerism so that there is a  common understanding among Friends of what we’re about and how we do things.

These are just a few ways we can begin to build a better worshipping community at First Friends.  I hope you will find ways this week to engage some of them.

Now, as we enter waiting worship this morning, I ask that you take some time to think through your involvement with the worship community at First Friends.  Ask yourself:

·        Where am I taking a risk as part of this worshipping community?

·        Who are the people that are not like me that I need to engage at First Friends to build a stronger community?

·        What can I do this week to enhance and/or participate within the worshipping community at First Friends?

9-19-21 - God Is Love - Quaker Worship Part 2

God is Love – Quaker Worship Part 2

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

September 19, 2021

I John 4:7-8 (the New Revised Standard Version)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 

When I was a child, I attended a Lutheran Grade School and every day we would start the morning with devotions (except on Wednesdays when we all met in the church for all-school chapel).  I remember one day during devotions my Third-grade teacher, Miss Heber, talking about God being Love.  

At first this was a weird and new concept for my Third-grade mind.  Just the phrase “God is Love” had me staring out the window and contemplating just what my teacher meant.

How can God be a feeling?  Wasn’t love between two people?

Love must be more than what I had originally thought.  But to jump to God being love was almost too big to wrap my head around (somedays it still is).

I can honestly say, I think that day, during the morning devotion, was the first time my mind began expanding on just how I see God and what it means that God is love. 

It was clear Miss Heber struggled to help us understand, just as any teacher who tries to teach the expansiveness of the Divine to young minds.  But in some aspect, she also narrowed things down greatly by defining God as simply love.  In the coming years, I would add a lot more to my definition of God and complicate my understanding.

A few years later, I found myself in Confirmation Class, still with a lot of questions and still wrestling with the idea of God as love.  In Confirmation, my pastor taught me about another word for God’s love – that word was agape. 

We were told that agape was unconditional love – and this was the love we spoke of when we talked of God.  My pastor also taught us there were three other types of love,

Storge or Affection

Philia or Friendship

Eros or Romantic 

And finally

Agape or Charity

My pastor said that this Agape Love was what God gives us so that we can love our neighbors.  Now, there was another new thought to add to my wondering mind. 

Again, I had to ponder.  So, God is love and God gives each of us his love so that we can share that of God with our neighbors.  And when we love – then we are connecting with the Divine in a very personal way.   As our scripture for today said, “everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”

C.S. Lewis expounded on these four loves, in a teaching by the same title, adding to agape love – sacrificial love.  Being willing to lay down one’s life for another – some calling this the ultimate act of worship or grace.  Thus, Jesus’ death by crucifixion at the hands of the religious and political authorities became the ultimate act of Divine love.   

Also, during Confirmation, I was introduced to further attributes of God.  God might be love, but God is also, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.  This complicated things even further for me. 

At first, I took it at face value – God is everywhere, all knowing, and all powerful.  But as I tried to grasp this, I realized this made for a rather scary God – and love then takes a backseat to a God more like the ones we see in Greek Mythology.

But as I started to think about this, I realized if God is love then this breaks down when we start to apply these attributes to the Divine.  James Burklo enlightened me on this matter when he explained this about God being Love.

“Love is the generative and creative force of the cosmos, so it is omnipresent.  But it makes room for unpredictable possibilities, so it is not omniscient.  Love is the essence of existence and of consciousness: it is powerfully attractive, but it is not omnipotent.  Love is personal, so we use personal terms to express it.  But we don’t ask love to solve our problems for us.  Prayer is not about asking God to intervene on our behalf.  Rather, it is our cultivation of cosmic consciousness, a discipline of paying compassionate attention to ourselves and others.  It is the practice of de-centering our small- “s” selves and recognizing unconditional love – which is the Christ – at the core of our being.  In prayer, we let divine love guide us into action to meet the needs of ourselves and others.”

When looking at God as Love in this manner, it begins to shape our understanding and give us a context for how this applies to what I am talking about in this sermon series about worship. 

As Quakers we talk about expectantly waiting – and for some that often includes what we have universally come to know as prayer – what we may define as making a spiritual connection with the Divine. 

Worship and Prayer go hand-and-hand because when we make this connection, we are raising our consciousness within ourselves and learning to embrace agape (unconditional love) first at the core of our being (our Inner Christ or Inner Light) and then learning to sacrifice our own wants and desires to let the divine love guide us into action in meeting the needs of those around us. This was illustrated beautifully in the life and ministry of Jesus.

Quaker worship then places us humbly before the Divine to be taught, transformed, and LOVED, SO THAT we can become a CONDUIT of God’s teaching, transformation, and love to our world. 

Quaker Worship then is a full immersion into this Divine Love and holy compassion.  (Let me repeat that phrase). Quaker Worship then is a full immersion into this Divine Love and holy compassion.

It becomes the core of our worship.  Even Jesus when asked about what was most important spelled it out by focusing on LOVE. 

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

The Apostle Paul also narrowed it down to LOVE when he wrote to the Corinthians and said, “13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

I encourage you this week to take your Bible off the shelf, crack it open, and spend some time reading through the New Testament. And when you come across the word God – replace it with the word “love.”  And really look at those places where the writers of scripture spoke about love.  I sense you will find a new perspective. 

Since that devotion in third grade, I have continued to expand my understanding of God.  That seed that was planted about God being love has continued to blossom and grow.

I find the authors of scripture continue to call us back to this Divine Love. If we are willing to place ourselves before this Love and take it seriously it results in a long list of significant consequences and possibilities.

These three words, “God is Love,” are not just a statement about God, but they sum up the meaning and purpose of our worship and even our human existence.

Embracing a God of Love opens us up as a conduit of a more compassionate, mindful, and in the true meaning of the word, progressive form of Christianity and Quakerism.

Again, James Burklo helped me begin to put words to this Divine dilemma that I have been wrestling with since I was a child.

·        If God is love, then God is something we do, more than somebody or something we try to believe in.

·        If God is love, then God is a relationship, and not with some Guy with a long beard somewhere up in the clouds, or some other kind of supernatural entity.

·        If God is love, God is nothing to fear.

·        If God is love, when we really love someone – even of another religion, or of no religion at all – God is in that relationship, blessing it.

So, these three words wipe away all the theological debates about science and common sense versus religion. These three words sweep away the problem of evil, the perennial conundrum of how an all-powerful God could love people while allowing horrible things to happen to them.

Don’t get me wrong, Love is extremely powerful, but it is not directive. Love does not force anybody to do anything, nor to force anything to do anything to anybody.

·        If God is love, then God is omni-attractive, not omni-potent. 

·        If God is love, then prayer is not about asking God for favors.

·        If God is love, then prayer becomes the contemplative experience of divine love.  (That sounds extremely Quaker.)

·        It is the practice of love through compassionate attention to all that is. And this is the purpose of human life. Through billions of years of cosmic unfolding and evolution, we frail creatures have come into being for the purpose of reflecting attentive awe and wonder back at the universe.  That is the purpose of worship.

We’re here to let our jaws drop in amazement at each other’s existence (and that of God or Love in one another), and to be wonderstruck with loving attention toward all that exists.

When we are in this state of awe, we are doing God. We are practicing God. We are communing with God. We are worshipping the God that is LOVE.

I know many of you watched the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, but one of the most controversial aspects of the wedding was actually the sermon (as a pastor I loved that so many people were talking about the sermon at such a high profile event). It may go down as one of the most talked about wedding sermon’s in history.  Bishop Michael Curry opened his sermon with these words. 

The late Dr Martin Luther King Jr once said, and I quote:

"We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world, for love is the only way."

There's power in love. Don't underestimate it. Don't even over-sentimentalize it. There's power, power in love.

If you don't believe me, think about a time when you first fell in love. The whole world seemed to center around you and your beloved.

Oh there's power, power in love. Not just in its romantic forms, but any form, any shape of love. There's a certain sense in which when you are loved, and you know it, when someone cares for you, and you know it, when you love and you show it - it actually feels right.

There is something right about it. And there's a reason for it. The reason has to do with the source. We were made by a power of love, and our lives were meant - and are meant - to be lived in that love. That's why we are here.

Ultimately, the source of love is God himself: the source of all of our lives. There's an old medieval poem that says: 'Where true love is found, God himself is there.

Love is in this place this morning if we are willing to place ourselves before it to be taught and transformed. And when we leave this place, we can take this worship of Love and become a conduit of it to our families, our neighbors, our workplaces, and to the greater world. 

Now, as we continue this exploration of worship in the manner of Friends, let us again enter this time of expectant waiting in a humble manner – opening ourselves to Love for teaching and transformation. Here are three queries for you to ponder. 

·         What ideas or attributes of God have not been helpful in my faith journey?

·         How might embracing God or the Divine as Love help me both worship and respond to my world?

·         How will I pay compassionate attention to myself and others this week?  

Opening Prayer:

God, whom we know to be Love, we humbly position ourselves before you in this Meeting for Worship. Teach, transform, and fill us with your love this morning. Speak to our condition, make your presence known to our Inner Lights, and help us to sense a desire to share Your Love with all we meet. May we be the conduit of your Love to our world.  Amen.

Benediction:

In The Name of Love

In the Name of Love, we have come.
In the Name of Love, we are here.
And, in the Name of Love we will go.
Knowing in our Hearts and in our Souls
that what we have experienced is truly Divine.

- Dennis Yount (Died of AIDS in the early 1990s)

9-12-21 - Quaker Worship: Letting God Teach & Transform Us

Quaker Worship: Letting God Teach & Transform Us

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

September 12, 2021

Good morning Friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning’s scripture text is from Psalm 95 (from the Message Version).  

1-2 Come, let’s shout praises to God,
    raise the roof for the Rock who saved us!
Let’s march into his presence singing praises,
    lifting the rafters with our hymns!

3-5 And why? Because God is the best,
    High King over all the gods.
In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns,
    in the other hand grasps the high mountains.
He made Ocean—he owns it!
    His hands sculpted Earth!

6-7 So come, let us worship: bow before him,
    on your knees before God, who made us!
Oh yes, he’s our God,
    and we’re the people he pastures, the flock he feeds.

7-11 Drop everything and listen, listen as he speaks:
    “Don’t turn a deaf ear as in the Bitter Uprising,
As on the day of the Wilderness Test,
    when your ancestors turned and put me to the test.
For forty years they watched me at work among them,
    as over and over they tried my patience.
And I was provoked—oh, was I provoked!
    ‘Can’t they keep their minds on God for five minutes?
    Do they simply refuse to walk down my road?’
Exasperated, I exploded,
    ‘They’ll never get where they’re headed,
    never be able to sit down and rest.’”

For the next several weeks, we are going to explore worship in the manner of Friends.  Worship is a loaded subject because we get caught up in the “how’s” of worship, rather than the “why’s.” 

In our American culture, worship has evolved to a set of types, the facilities it happens within, or the emotions in which it is expressed. 

If you take a moment to explore what Quakers believe, you will most likely find a definition such as this:

“Quaker worship is designed to let God or the Divine

teach and transform the worshippers.”

Once that is said, the following paragraphs will then begin to define our types (programmed or unprogrammed), our facilities or where Meetings for Worship take place, and the emotions or ambiance that make up the worship experience. 

Please note, these are very important aspects that make our worship experiences unique as Quakers, but before we get into unpacking those distinctives, we must first ask ourselves the question behind the question:

What is worship at its core?

If you go to Webster’s Dictionary for an answer you will find:

“The feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.”

That is very basic and simply stated, so maybe we need to go to the Bible to help us see other perspectives. This can be where things start to get complicated. 

If we look in the book of Romans:  

Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

Let’s write that down…offering our bodies as living sacrifices = true or proper worship.

And then in 1 Corinthians 10:31 Paul goes on to say, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Ok…so anything we do can be considered worship.  That is getting much closer to our Quaker understanding since the Divine has the ability of teaching or transforming us in just about any life situation or experience we find ourselves in – not just within an hour on Sunday, Monday or Wednesday night, but literally anywhere and anytime. 

Now, if you and I were to go out on the streets and ask our neighbors or friends or even relatives who actually attend a church, what worship is - most would not talk about sacrifice or doing things to the glory of God, or placing themselves before the Divine for teaching or transformation, but rather they would talk about…ready for it…music styles. 

During the 80’s and early 90’s the American church made a shift in what worship meant.  Worship began to split around styles – some churches began to embrace camp-style music or a more bohemian style of folk music.  This led to pianos and organs being replaced by guitars and synthesizers, and choirs replaced by worship teams.  This was based mostly on preferences.  Some still preferred, even at times theologically could make a case for one side or the other. 

When I was in college we learned about and even debated the “Contemporary Christian Music” movement’s influence on worship experiences and discussed what was labeled “the war on worship” which was all about styles and what individuals felt was proper or not.  Again, it was only preferences.  We read book after book on it, Christian Book Stores were filled with worship manuals making their cases, and music preferences soon became synonymous with the word, worship.  

I remember many church meetings when I was first in professional ministry that revolved around the preferences of worship music – everything from sacred and classical to rock and roll and hip-hop. And yes, just like still today, we even lost people over their preferences on multiple occasions.   

At one point in ministry, I held the title: Director of Contemporary Worship – which the only difference between the service I led in the gym and the one that took place in the sanctuary was the style of music played – every other part of the service was identical.  I remember, people would call the church and ask us “What is your worship like?” 

Just think about that question…how would you answer that for First Friends?  What is our worship like? 

Each of us may have a completely different take on this because that question is about our preferences more than about worship.  Our worship should be about positioning ourselves before God, not our preferences.   

For my first 15 years of my ministry, worship was solely defined by music and style – and then soon was added emotion and ambiance. 

As I made my way to become an ordained pastor, the new thing in Christianity was what was called Passion Worship and the accompanying songs with repetitive choruses.  Raising of hands and closing your eyes became popular, the showing of raw emotions accompanied this movement, and soon it all was mainstreamed onto our radios with Contemporary Christmas Music – which gave us worship albums to play in our cars and on our CD players, concerts became worship experiences with everything from people passing out and being overwhelmed by Jesus - to altar-call style revivals.  We had seen this before in America starting after the Civil War. Even venues for worshipping together began to change – warehouses, coffee houses, concert venues, even bars were becoming the places where “worship” happened. 

I find it ironic that back in Martin Luther’s Day – hymn tunes often came from songs he sang in the bar, new lyrics were added and voilà some of our most beloved hymns, like “A Mighty Fortress” were created. 

Now, I can go into great detail about this transition to worship being all about music, because I lived it, and some of you in this room did as well, but it has always been one of the biggest reasons I sought out the Quakers. 

When I first experienced Friends, worship was not about music styles (actually the first Quaker Worship I experienced had no music at all, facilities were not an issue - they met in a home, and emotions and ambiance were not that important – it was about the Divine, it was about expectant waiting, and entering silence (something foreign to almost all of my prior “worship experiences.”   

I was taught that it was not about anything I did, prepared, or experienced, per say, but rather what God or the Divine was doing in our midst.  

I was taught how Quaker worship is about letting God or the Divine teach and transform the worshippers in any aspect of life.

When worship becomes about what I want, then it quickly digresses to be about styles, emotions, even the places where it must happen, instead of intentionally placing oneself before the Spirit of God for teaching and transformation.

And honestly, that could happen anywhere.  It doesn’t need a facility like a sanctuary or meetinghouse.

One of the most beautiful places I have ever worshipped was on the Oregon Coast during my doctoral work.  I and a couple of friends headed to Cape Kawanda.  We climbed the rocks, became still, and allowed the spirit of God to speak to us.  We had no liturgy, no music, no building, no agenda.  We placed ourselves on top of a large rock facing the winds coming off the oceans and felt the mist of the ocean as it beat upon the rocks below us.  I and my company of friends sensed awe, fear, and even renewal in that moment, because we willingly placed ourselves before the Divine.

But I didn’t even need that beautiful place to have this experience. I have been driving in my car with the radio off, and the Spirit of God has begun to teach and transform me…it can happen anywhere.

I try and consider this every time I enter through the side door of our Meetingroom on the First Day for Meeting for Worship.  I try to ask myself - Am I expectantly waiting (as we Quakers like to say) for my Present Teacher or the Spirit of Christ to teach me and transform me this morning?   

If I truly believe in that of God in my neighbor, I have a plethora of possibilities that the divine may choose to speak to me through.  It could happen as I am greeted by someone, during the singing or playing of a special song or hymn, a child’s answer during the children’s message, the way someone reads scripture, I have even found that as I am preaching, God uses my own words to speak to my condition…the important question is am I allowing God to teach and transform me in this moment? 

The word most translated into worship in the Bible simply means “bowing down” getting into a humble position.  That is an eye-opener right there.  

Even Jesus is a bit cryptic in his most direct words on worship when he says,

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”

Wait…what?  Worship happens in Spirit or as in the Greek pneuma. 

This word pneuma describes the vital spirit, soul, or creative force within each of us – it points to what we Quakers would call our essence, something separate from the body that determines our will, actions, and decisions. For us Quakers this is what we may describe as our Inner Light or that of God within us.  

Thus, when we worship in Spirit or humbly position ourselves to be open to the teaching, leading, and transformation of God, we are usually doing inner work and learning from those around us. 

Folks, worship is not about rituals, traditions, a physical building, or music…but rather it is about the spirit within the temple of our own bodies and its interaction with that of God in and around us. 

What then flows out from those special connections are our personal expressions of worship and this is where our preferences come into play.  We are each unique.   

We might express ourselves through singing, through dancing, through poetry, through creating, through gardening, through activism, through teaching, through painting or drawing, through practicing medicine, through cutting stamps, through smiling, through sitting in silence, through having coffee with a friend, through making a meal, through a vocation, through being a parent or student or friend, through…you fill in the blank! 

We each may choose completely different ways to express our worship.  That is the diverse beauty we offer each other – and remember, it stems first and foremost from putting ourselves in a place to connect that of God in and around us. 

I hope this is starting to make some sense.  There are many aspects to worship that are so important.  Next week I hope to explore another aspect of worship – what I will call a full immersion in the Love and Compassion of God.

Until then, let’s take a moment to enter waiting worship. Here we choose to humbly place ourselves before the Spirit of God for the possibility of being taught and transformed. To help us center down, here are a couple queries to consider.

·        What do I consider worship? What misconceptions do I have?

·        This week, how might I humbly let God, or the Divine teach and transform me?

9-5-21 - Endings and New Beginnings

Endings and New Beginnings

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 5, 2021

John 3:3-12 (New International Version)

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 

Along with this weekend being known for celebrating labor in our country, it is also well-known for considering endings and beginnings. 

For us folks in the Midwest, the summer is officially coming to a close and fall is upon us. Another year of school has begun, and the future seems a bit in the air.  We thought we were coming to the close of the pandemic, only to find the variants raising the numbers of cases and us beginning to explore new ways to move forward safely. 

Another aspect of considering endings and beginnings that I often find myself in conversation about is the views of completion or closure.

We have had a couple important memorials this past summer and one of the topics I would overhear people talking about was finding closure.  But it is not just at memorial services that we seek closure – it is also in a variety of things from our current and political past, our religious upbringings, to even the interactions on our Nextdoor community apps.

Even more, I sense the pandemic has left us yearning when it comes to closure. Even though there is such a desire to get back to the said, “normal,” we are learning to work with and embrace what I might call a “holding pattern” or “wait-and-see mentality.” 

Often in religious circles we talk of “new beginnings” and the importance of “ending well” – sometimes, maybe to our detriment, because it takes our focus off being in the present moment.

Yet I find endings and beginnings also to be very spiritual times. Take for instant a baby being born, a wedding, the start of a pilgrimage or spiritual journey, or a death of a loved one, a retirement, even the ending of a bad habit or addiction.   Not only are many of these milestones in life, but they also have a deeply spiritual component. 

In the world we talk about these times being marked by transition – while in the religious world we might use the world transformation instead.  A transformation often implies that an ending becomes an opportunity for a beginning.

These transitions or transformations define the journey of our souls. I believe they are the tools the Divine uses to shake us, regardless of our age, sexual orientation, social or financial status, back onto the journey of self-discovery and Divine connection.

These transitions or transformations can abruptly remove the props we use to hold up our self-image and help us be more vulnerable to those around us. And yes, they also can mark a time of deep confusion and even identity crisis.

I sense we at First Friends are in a time of transition or maybe better yet transformation.

It is clear in many areas we are at times deeply confused and maybe even having an identity crisis. We have begun to reach the end of the way “we have always done things” and are seeking new ways to do the ministry and business of the Meeting.

This is no easy task – simply because it means we must admit we are arriving at an ending…and at the same time must have our eyes open for the possibilities of new beginnings.

If there has been one thing that the Pandemic has taught us at First Friends– it is the fact that we have an ability to transform – even to start something completely new and be successful. 

I am just going to put it out there, but I sense one of the biggest deficiencies in the Quaker world as a whole is the lack of transition or transformation. 

Often, we buddy up with American Christianity and talk of being “born again,” but sadly, it is too often, simply a being born again to the same old thing we did before – lacking new life, energy, momentum, and possibility.  

Jesus says to Nicodemus, “No one, can see the Kingdom of God unless one is born again.”  To see the “Kingdom of God” is just another way of talking about experiencing and participating in the dynamic reality of God’s life and will in the present moment.  What we have become confused about is that Jesus was talking about being “born again in this life, not some life to come. 

If anything, transformation should be about being birthed anew in the present moment so there can be new possibilities and opportunities now!

I think this was what Jesus was trying to help the Pharisee Nicodemus understand. And just like Nicodemus, this is so relevant for our individual lives.   

Let’s be honest, we are not that bad at beginnings, are we?  You and I love to do something new or get a chance to begin again.

But it is the endings that are much different.  Endings have a history, they have baggage, they come with a comfortability with the way things are currently and to end them would mean that scary word - change.

Folks, endings can be devastating and difficult (even painful) for a variety of reasons, most of which we never identify because we’re too caught up with the ending and not what is behind why something is ending or needs to end.

Too often the ending becomes all that we can see – thus the ending becomes an end in itself, which leaves us grieving and lacking the ability to see the new beginning being birthed.

I have learned over my many years in ministry that most people struggle with not being able to comprehend that an “end” is almost always an opportunity for a new beginning.

When I used to teach at Huntington University, I taught a capstone class that was to prepare students for an ending – that being their undergrad college career.  We did a lot of examining where all they had been over the last four-plus years. As well as what they had learned, and how the experience had affected them. 

Early on I would dedicate a class to evaluating what they would want to change about their college experience.  Most would start with a phrase like,

“If I could go back and be a freshman again…I would do...” or

“If I would have known this…I may have chosen to respond this way…” or

“I didn’t realize it was me that needed to change…”

I would take that one experience and turn it around to discuss stepping out of the bubble of college life. How this ending would be an opportunity to make new beginnings as they step out.  It was always an amazing discussion, often tears were shed, but hope was instilled in them that a new beginning was possible.

What if we at First Friends considered taking this year as a Capstone Class for our journey together as a community of faith? 

Maybe we could look back on just the past 65 years since we moved into this building and ask ourselves, where have we come, where are we currently, and where do we want to go? 

I sense we might realize we need to bring some things to and end and find and embrace new opportunities to be birthed anew.   

If our Weighty Friend, Dan Rains left us with one major piece of wisdom about endings, it was that the end always begets new beginnings of some sort.   

I have really been thinking about this and asking myself how I can learn to see a beginning being formed in whatever end I experience? I believe to do this as a community, it must first start with a personal exploration.

Craig Lounsbrough in an article titled “The End is Only a Beginning in Disguise” has some answers to help us.

He says, to see those new beginnings out of our endings, we must first admit we do not want to lose something.

Craig says,

Quite simply, we tend to hate endings because many of our endings involve things that we don’t want to lose. Sure, there are many things that we’re glad to get rid of, but many times some ‘thing,’ or some person, or some life-phase played such a role in our lives that we can’t imagine going on without it. Or we feel that its end has come far too soon, and we are bereft of everything we could have gotten out of it, or it out of us.

What we end up doing is seeing the loss within the agenda that we had created for that thing, or that person, or that life-phase, and we’ve not recognized a larger agenda that’s simply playing itself out so it can play other things in.

Second, Craig says we fear that whatever we’ve lost can never be replaced.

There’s an immediate sense that losing something demands that it be replaced. There’s that sense where we don’t want to disturb the continuity of our lives and the rhythm that we’ve created. Things have been disrupted, sometimes dramatically so, and we want to stop the disruption by immediately replacing whatever it was that we lost.

What we tend to miss is that replacement only serves to perpetuate the repetition of the past, where creating space for something new creates space for something fresh. And it is out of something fresh that this journey of ours is so often refreshed.

Third, Craig says we like to glorify the end.

Since we have to tolerate endings, we want them to be good and even glorious. We want an end to have some meaning to it, that whatever is ending was meaningful and possibly spectacular while it was around.

We can’t hold on to that which we’re losing, but we can make the end grand and glorious to the point that the memory of it will always stay with us. There’s nothing inherently wrong about bringing something to a close in a manner that’s respectful and celebratory, unless this becomes our one and total focus.

Fourth, Craig says we fear that an ending might be a failure.

What if whatever it is that ended wasn’t really supposed to end, but it did because somebody screwed up somewhere? What if this really wasn’t the time? What if this loss really was grossly premature and achingly unnecessary? What if this loss was due to my stupidity or poor timing or lack of insight or lackluster commitment? What if this loss was the product of someone’s blatant failure?

Sometimes losses are so unexplainable and seemingly irrational that we think this way. And it may well be that the loss did not have to happen, and maybe should not have happened at all.

Yet, life is big enough and has ample room to take the most tragic mistakes and weave them into the most wonderful of opportunities if we let it do so. An ending is only a failure if we choose not to tease out the manifold lessons in the ending.

Fifth, Craig says we fear that there will be no new beginning.

So, what if this is an end and nothing more than an end? What if nothing emerges from whatever it is that we’ve lost? What if life doesn’t go on, or there are no opportunities beyond this, or it all dies here?

We often wonder will the road run out, will an irrevocable end eventually come, and will there be no place to go because the future simply won’t exist and the past is forever gone.

Yet, it is looking at the nature and fabric of life, and in the looking realize that things always find a way to go forward because there is always a place to go forward to.

As we look at the endings and beginnings of our own lives and how we respond to them.  I sense we will begin to understand the need for this coming and going. Or this emptying out and filling up. Some may label it an uprooting and a planting.

As fall is upon us here in the Midwest, we are going to see visibly this ending in nature.  I am already seeing it in my backyard.  It is part of the cycle of life.  The coming of spring heralds a resurgence arising out of the debris and decay of fall – what we might even call a resurrection.

As Craig says, “It is a message woven into the most intimate fabric of creation where nothing ends because an end is only a beginning in disguise.”

So over the next several months, I want us to really think about the endings in our personal lives, as well as in this Meeting.

• Are we preparing ourselves for something new to be birthed amongst us? 

• What new beginning might we have the opportunity to embrace if we prepare ourselves?

• And how are we responding to the endings happening around us?

  • Are we holding on to them? 

  • Are we fearing them?

  • Are we glorifying them?

  • Are we seeing them as a failure? Or…

  • Are we worried there will be no new beginnings?

8-29-21 - Get Outside and Connect!

Go Outside and Connect!  

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 29, 2021

Good morning, Friends!  It is so good to gather outside to celebrate Funday Sunday! The scripture text I chose for today is from Psalms 96:11-12 (from The Voice translation).  It speaks of the creation praising the Divine or Eternal.  I encourage you to close your eyes as I read and still your hearts. Listen to the nature around us as communicates wisdom and hope. 

11 And so, let the heavens resound in gladness!
    Let joy be the earth’s rhythm as the sea and all its creatures roar.
12 Let the fields grow in triumph, a grand jubilee for all that live there.
Let all the trees of the forest dig in and reach high with songs of joy before the Eternal.

I was thinking the other day about when our kids were younger. What brought this to mind was driving by the park at the end of our street and seeing about 6 middle school children scattered throughout the park all on their smart phones.  It looked as if something had frozen them in time. 

I thought of how both Sue and I would say to our kids – alright, time to turn off the devices and go outside to play!  Go out and have some fun. 

Sure, they were often playing with toys or building with Legos, not always on devices when we said this, but there was something about getting up and going outside to play that was different and important. 

And it would not matter if it was a beautiful day like today or in the middle of winter with snow – it was about going outside that was the key.

If you really think about it, we make the outside part of our play throughout life.  When we go on vacations, go for walks, even when we play sports or exercise, we make sure to get outside. 

For me, I love spending time in nature and I love to play in nature, whether it is enjoying the beach, walking a trail, sitting by a waterfall, laying in a field at night to watch the stars. 

I have always loved playing in nature. But often that is as far as we go. We stop with the playing.  We utilize the nature, sometimes abuse the nature, but rarely do we connect with the nature in a spiritual way.  

Just maybe we will never get to really enjoy the play until we make a connection to the Creation around us.

My daily walk was changed a year or so ago when I saw a tree that I had never noticed right off the path that I walked each day.  I had passed it on numerous occasions, with my ear buds in my ears listening to a book or podcast and never seeing it (hmmm…maybe I am no different than those middle schoolers in the park).  My sole goal was getting my walk in, NOT connecting to nature. 

Yet that day, it was like the tree called out to me.  Immediately I stopped and turned off the book I was listening to.  That’s when I started to make a connection.

I noticed how the tree was overwhelmed at its base by a large invasive vine.  It had become so thick that the tree was struggling too fully live.  My first instinct was to try and remove the vine, but it was so incredibly thick and intertwined that I knew with my hands that I would not make any progress.  I became a bit frustrated because I did not want to see the tree get suffocated by the vine. 

Yet, as I stood there in my frustration, it was almost like the tree was asking me to look deeper or that it was becoming a mirror reflecting back to me the struggles of my own life. 

Suddenly, I was realizing that I was connecting with this tree in a special way.  It was showing me more than I at first realized. 

Just at that moment the sun came out and I glanced up from the base of the tree, following the trunk up to the branches and leaves.  That is when I realized that even though that invasive vine was surrounding the tree, the tree still found a way to thrive and grow.  Above the vines it was lush and full of color and life.

So many applicable lessons the Creation was trying to communicate and teach me in that moment.  

Kris Abrams calls these moments of clarity and connection – “accidental encounters with nature.”  I wasn’t seeking a profound experience that day when I left my house for my walk, but it happened.

That tree took on an entire new meaning for me and still today I never miss taking a moment to look at it when I pass it on my walk.  And yes, it has continued to teach me new things over the last year or so. 

Most of the time, we don’t stop, we don’t go any further, we don’t make the connection.

Kris Abrams says that is because “mainstream culture exerts tremendous pressure to prioritize the surface rather than the spiritual and we revert to exercising or socializing, using nature as a sort of grand gym or café” all the while missing all the deeper ways it could enhance our experience.

The day that tree “spoke to me” I realized I made a shift from an accidental spiritual relationship with nature to a more intentional one.  I found it was not so much me “going out to play” as it was me “going out to connect.” 

Thus, the reason, I am glad we outside in these beautiful meditational woods for worship today.

Now, I know many of you have shared with me connections you have had while in nature.  How spending time on your back porch, at these mediational woods, even in a local park can help you transcend the urgency of the moment, slow you down, and help you sense the presence of God more directly. 

Even one of my mentors and professors used to tell us of how he had a profound encounter with a set of birds on his porch birdfeeder that he believed was the Divine’s way of teaching him how to be a better father.  

But I also know for myself and for many others, taking the time to connect with God through nature does not come easy.  So, this morning, I thought I would offer you six suggestions that have helped me deepen my experience with God through nature. 

What I have realized, is that It’s not enough for us adults to simply tell ourselves “it’s time to go outside and play.”  And maybe that’s because we should be saying to ourselves “it’s time to go outside and connect.” 

Here are some suggestions that have helped me from Kim Abrams.

1.     Make a Commitment

This is often the biggest hurdle to getting outside and making a deeper connection.  You and I both have said it, “But it is too hot, today.” “It’s raining.” “I am too busy.”

Much of this is what Kim names mind clutter.  Our mind is working against us – and that might be due to not getting outside and connecting more with nature.

Hoping to organically spend time in nature may be our hope, but with our lives these days, it probably will not happen. 

To develop a spiritual relationship with nature begins by committing to spending this time in nature.  That may be once a day, once a week, or even more depending on your schedule. 

After the long pandemic and being cooped up inside, we have what I call “nature atrophy” – the use of nature and its effectiveness has declined because of its underuse this past year and half.  

2.     Create time alone in nature

When we are with other people, we tend to talk to each other, and even when we are not, we often put on headphones that do the same.  I sometimes now find myself going out for a walk without my ear buds in, my phone silenced, and all alone.

As Quakers we must be reminded how silence and solitude go hand and hand.  It was Quaker Richard Foster who taught me that solitude amplifies the other disciplines,  the environment around us, and allows us to achieve a greater focus, a greater ability to see just what God is trying to say to us. 

Even if you are planning to spend some time with others in nature – make an agreement that you will set-apart some time for solitude – and agree to share how you connected and what you learned.

3.     Find a good place

Don’t complicate this.  I probably never would have picked to stop at that tree on the path, if I didn’t allow it to speak to me.  You do not need the “perfect place” or the “same place” every time. 

4.     Sit Down

Yes, you may have a spiritual experience in nature while walking, running, or climbing, but you may need to stop and sit down to help align your focus.  Sitting down breaks the cycle or rhythm you have been in and helps promote you to see, hear, smell, and experience new things.

5.     Relax & Observe

Spend a moment taking in your surroundings.  Try and notice little details as well as the larger lay of the land.  Connect through all your senses – hear, smell, feel, and allow yourself to enjoy the experience.  Then when you have relaxed a bit – ask yourself a query:

What drew me to this specific place?  

Really take a moment to fully explore that query.  It wasn’t for a couple days after I experienced that tree overcome by the vine that I realized why I was drawn to it.

And finally…

6.     Communicate.

Being raised in a Western Culture, this may be the hardest to grasp.  In our Western ways we are quick to say that tress, rocks, flowers, dirt do not have a soul or spirit.  But I think if we look at it in another way, it may help.

It is interesting, how often we talk about God communicating with us through nature – God sent that bird, or that sunset, or that rainstorm - so why can’t we communicate back, or have a conversation with the means God uses? 

I find words or thoughts appear in my mind, and they aren’t the ones that I would come up with on my own.  Sometimes a quiet awareness or idea arises, and then you can try to articulate it with words to help you remember it better.

For me this is just what happened when I started to notice that tree with the vines.  I started to relate to the tree because I too was feeling overwhelmed.  That feeling came into my mind and I began to look at what all the tree was wanting to communicate to me. 

Personally, I was probably feeling so overwhelmed that I needed that tree to “call out” to me.  I might not have heard a person, a friend, even my wife.  But then it was like the tree, without saying a word, communicated with me and helped me understand, helped me see there was hope and helped me know I could still thrive and grow.

So, this morning, I would like you to take these 6 suggestions and spend some time allowing God to use nature to communicate to you and for you to communicate back. 

Once again, let me read those 6 suggestions – you may also find them in your bulletin this morning:

1.     Make a commitment

2.     Create time alone

3.     Find a good place

4.     Sit down

5.     Relax and Observe…and

6.     Communicate

For our time of waiting worship, I want to encourage you to spend some time connecting with nature in these beautiful woods. You may want to move your chair or sit by a tree, or simply stay in your current place.  Enter this time with an openness to how God may speak to you through nature and see what you are being led to communicate back. 

8-22-21 - Generosity or Scarcity – Where Do We Live?

Matthew 6:19-21 NRSV version

Beth Henricks

August 22, 2021

19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Friends, I gave a message to Whittier Friends last Sunday by zoom (the benefits of virtual connection) and Bob asked me to share a modified version of this message today as I examined my spiritual journey trying to live more fully from a place of generosity versus scarcity and how I am trying to live out my spiritual transformation in the world for me.  This is a difficult journey as fear, shortages and inadequacies can dominate our being.  I have had several significant moments in my spiritual journey where I was challenged to trust God for my future. 

As I reflected on my spiritual journey as I prepared this message, I was thinking back to my religious upbringing.  As I have shared before, I was raised in a fundamentalist tradition, very devout and was at church 3 times a week.  I went to a Baptist high school and a conservative Christian college.  I was immersed in church, was told what to believe, read the Bible literally and all my doubts and questions were dismissed by the church teachers and leaders.  There were no women in paid leadership roles (only administrative assistants and those that worked with kids).   I had so many questions about our faith and the Bible.  I began a spiritual exploration in high school, and it has continued throughout my life.  That is how I found Quakerism.  It has been so important to my life and my spiritual journey.  The Quakers were accepting and embraced my questions when we first walked into First Friends doors 28 years ago.  I felt others journey alongside of me as I explored my belief system.  Nothing was off the table, and I felt safe and loved.  That is a feeling that spiritual seekers are longing for, and I believe Quakerism can give that space and should be bursting at the seams with new seekers.  Quakers also provide opportunities through wonderful organizations like RSWR, QVS, FCNL and others to put our spiritual transformation into action as we are led. These organizations operate with integrity, transparency and spirit led stewardship.  They are making a difference in our country and our world.

Another reason for my passion for Quakerism is the role of women in our leadership and throughout our history.  Margaret Fell, Dorothy White, Elizabeth Bathurst, Rebeckah Travers, Lucretia Mott and many others were prominent leaders and teachers and writers for our faith tradition.  We should all look up their writings and their life to consider what they wrote about the faith.  One of my personal heroes in our quaker tradition is Lucretia Mott.  She was an incredible woman that spent her time and energy advocating for women’s rights and blacks’ rights.  It’s hard to adequately describe her impact on the movement.  She gave so much of herself even as she was raising a number of children.  She was also an incredible hostess welcoming many into her home to spend the night and prepare a delicious meal.  She was a model of hospitality and generosity in all parts of her life.  She lived within the example of Jesus. 

Quakers have a grand history, but we aren’t bursting at the seams – we are in decline in the United States.  I think we sometimes lack generosity in our hospitality and embrace of newcomers.  It is important that Quakers practice an extravagant hospitality and not welcome folks from a place of  insider language and a scarcity mentality.  We need to be generous in our hospitality, our welcome, our understanding.  I have seen Quakers be small and restrictive in their standards of simplicity and might make an outsider feel unwelcome because they don’t ascribe to a perceived standard of simplicity or peace or any of the other testimonies. As our beloved Quaker Rufus Jones wrote in 1940, there is no fixed standard of simplicity,

What is very simple for one person often seems

Very complex and extravagant for another person.

There is no known calculus of simplicity.

 I love this statement from North Carolina Yearly Meeting (Conservative), written in 1983 about simplicity.   Simplicity does not mean drabness or narrowness but is essentially positive, being the capacity for selectivity in one who holds attention on the goal.  Thus, simplicity is an appreciation of all that is helpful towards living as children of the Living God.

The question for each of us is how we are extravagant in our welcome, our hospitality, our tangible means of providing largesse.  We should welcome others with all our selves. An example of this occurred five years ago when a young man showed up at our door. He was desperate, about to be evicted, going through a divorce, had lost his job and was struggling.  We talked for several hours in the parlor and he asked if we could pay his rent to prevent him from losing his apartment.  His only connection with Quakers was from a number of years ago when he was choir director at a Friends Church in Muncie.  He was desperate and humble about his situation.  It’s difficult to discern the right response.  I have heard many stories from people over the year that have a need and trying to decide if the person’s situation is real and deserving of our support is not easy.  In this situation God’s voice spoke to me and encouraged generosity to this young man.  First Friends paid his rent.

I heard from this young man a couple of times after that but then lost track of him.  Often our generosity does not know an outcome and that is ok.  However, last month, this young man made a contribution doubling the amount we gave him five years ago.  He called me and said that moment of generosity helped turn his life around and he is thriving.  He will never forget First Friends generosity and the way we supported him without judgement or shame.

The greatest example for generosity, hospitality and embrace of all is Jesus.  I read the Gospels as my guiding Light (as many early quakers did).  Jesus showed the way to the most dramatic sense of generousity and faith for the future.  He called twelve men to leave their jobs, their families, their stable future to follow him in a radical new way of love, hospitality, generosity.  He didn’t worry about where he was going to stay the next night, gave up all his possessions and had complete trust in God’s leadings.  He welcomed the lowest of society at the time into his presence and his hospitality and generosity was magnanimous. And the disciple that understood him best was Mary Magdalene. He broke all bounds of tradition.  How do I live into this example?

Jesus knew what generosity was all about.  He taught in Mark 12:38-44 that the Scribes (the religious leaders of the time) walked around in their fancy robes, were greeted with respect in the public marketplace, had the best seats in the synagogue, the most influence over money matters and were held in honor.  Yet these leaders were devouring widows homes and saying long prayers to show off to others.  Jesus said they will receive the greater condemnation.  Jesus then shared the story of the widow.  “A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.  Then he called his disciples and said to them, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.  For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”  This widow gave out of a place of abundance and trust and not from scarcity and fear.   

I believe one of my pivotal moments  was about 13 years ago that I started to shift my thinking.  I decided I didn’t want to give a small amount of money to a lot of different organizations, rather I wanted to limit my contributions and make them more significant to organizations that I knew, understood, appreciated their governance, and connected with in a deeper way.  This journey began when Jim Cason from the Friends Committee on Legislation (FCNL) contacted me and asked me to serve as the clerk of the Capital Campaign that FCNL was preparing to launch.  I was shocked that they asked me to serve in this role as I was not qualified to do this.  I had never been on a capital campaign committee much less being its clerk.  I felt out of my league in this role, but FCNL put together a qualified and spirit led committee and the experience was amazing.  I met so many deeply spiritual Quakers from around the country and from various Quaker branches and my world of Quakerism began to expand beyond my Midwest connections.  The work we did was so grounded in the spirit and in worship.

Everyone on the committee was asked to consider their gift to the campaign.  FCNL utilized a seasoned Quaker development consultant to help with the campaign and I remember his discussion with me about my gift.  He suggested an amount that stunned me at its size.  This was not what I had been thinking at all.  I sat with this idea for several weeks listening to God’s voice and what God was calling me to give.  My biggest hesitancy was the fact that my husband was in the 3rd year of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis and as his condition declined, I had to bring in more care for him.  I was afraid that I could run out of money if this disease in him lasted for years.  Could I really give this significant gift for me considering an uncertain future with my husband?  I spent several days in intense prayer about what to do.  The voice I heard said, do you trust me or not?  Should you not make this decision from a place of generosity versus scarcity?  My hesitancy was because I feared an uncertain future.  But isn’t that the point of our relationship to the Divine?  God will journey with us through whatever our circumstances might be, and this was a moment in my life where my faith was tested and deepened through the experience.  I gave the amount the consultant suggested.

I am reflecting on my initial connection to an amazing organization Right sharing of World Resources.  It was Ann Panah that was leading a campaign to raise some money for RSWR, a number of years ago].  I knew very little about them and had been giving a small amount of money to Heifer International.  It was her leadership that had me investigate this organization more closely and I began to see this was a place that I could live out my spiritual transformation.  What a joy to host a lunch and auction off a quilt in Ann’s honor from her quilting group to support a women’s project in Kenya. 

What a blessing to have Amy Perry, Brad Jackson and others to take on the stamp ministry to raise money for RSWR.  This group is so faithful and so generous in giving their time and talents to trim and sell stamps to dealers.  

 Eleven years ago I agreed to join the board of RSWR and served them for 9 years, the last two as clerk.  It was an amazing experience.  One of the most important aspects to this for me was allowing my small world dealing with my husband’s dementia to be expanded.  Most of you know that my husband was diagnosed (probably suffered for a few years prior)  with Alzheimer’s in 2010.  Anyone that has dealt with a spouse with Alzheimer’s knows how small the world gets in dealing with their care.  For a couple of days two times a year, I was able to join other Friends to review and approve women’s projects in Kenya, India and Sierra Leone.  What a privilege to expand my horizons to be a small pebble in the ripple of power these women take in their communities.  How my world was expanded to be in relationship with these women through their project descriptions.  How this investment changes their lives, the lives of their families and their communities.  What a privilege to be part of this!  RSWR is important to me as they support women that can often be the most effective change agents in their communities.

RSWR is a place for me to live out the spiritual transformation I have experienced internally.  I know that there is so much trouble in our world and at times we can all feel paralyzed with all the issues we face and might become immobilized into doing nothing to change our world.  I have felt this despair at times and have come to a place where I must respond to what God is specifically calling to me.  I can’t impact so many ills in our world, but I can respond to God’s call and do what God lays on my heart. And I can’t let despair stop me from responding to God’s call to me. I am praying that each of us responds to God’s call on our hearts. 

The idea of generosity versus scarcity is present in our personal lives, our interactions with our communities and in our Meetings.  This concept can be about money, but it is more often about how we embrace others, welcome others, and give of our time to others and live out Quaker testimonies and Jesus’ commandments in our own world.

I heard an interesting story on NPR a few years ago about an observant Jew that was in a foreign country staying at a resident host.  This host had no idea of the guest’s dietary restrictions, and the host provided the guest with a special pork dish.  This dish was presented to the guest in a way of honor and the observant Jew needed to quickly decide what to do.  He had never allowed pork to cross his lips, as this was restricted by his faith.  But his host was offering this restricted food in a gesture of great generosity and hospitality.  The guest decided this trumped the restrictive restrictions of his faith concerning food and he ate the pork.   This feels to me like living in a space of generosity versus scarcity. 

As we enter our time of unprogrammed worship I share the following queries.

Queries

Where are we afraid of scarcity in our lives?

What does it mean to me to live in a spirit of generosity?

Where is God calling me to expand my giving of time and talents?

8-15-21 - The Art of Listening

The Art of Listening

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 15, 2021

Good morning and welcome to Light Reflections.  The scripture for today is from James 1:19-25 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves] in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

After openly sharing a couple of weeks ago my personal perspectives of the state of our Yearly Meeting and what I believe is going to be a key in changing our current trajectory, I found myself having some wonderful conversations with several of you. 

The stories, the struggles, the possibilities have begun to surface, and I am seeing a desire to continue this conversation through these First Day teachings.  

Just to review, two weeks ago I spoke of the transitions and movements that have taken place away from our original text leaving us with the loss of a common vocabulary. This then creating a void of new storytelling among Quakers.

Last week, I shared how this void has led to an “identity crisis” among Friends, another symptom of a lost common vocabulary and the need once again to “Let our live speak.”

During waiting worship last week for those at our in-person Meeting for Worship, Friend John Moorman brought up another very important aspect of this teaching which I had already planned to speak on this week – that being the importance of listening to each other.

I have never found “listening” to be an easy subject to address from the pulpit – or for that matter in any aspect of life.  My first thought goes to the challenges associated with teaching children or pets to listen – which often takes years of discipline, patience, and a commitment to continual teaching and re-teaching. 

So even though this one teaching will be woefully brief in comparison, I think it is absolutely necessary for the future of Quakerism and even for the future of our Meeting.

This is probably because, if we were honest, we all have had times when listening has been difficult.

It is much easier to tell our stories, give our perspectives, and explain our understandings and approaches while others listen to us wax eloquently in utter astonishment at our wisdom (I’m being sarcastic…to a point). 

Actually, our world offers classes on making one’s point, giving speeches, and even story-telling, but rarely do we find offerings for learning to listen better.

This week as I sat down to begin my week and check the emails that had piled up over the weekend, Good Morning America was on in the background, and a segment caught my attention.  It was in how the announcer introduced the segment that drew me in.  He said,

“You have heard of a library of books, but have your ever heard of a library of people?  In our next segment we are going to introduce you to a library made up of only real people.” 

I immediately stopped filing through my emails and turned up the television.  After the commercial break, I was introduced to The Human Library a not-for-profit learning platform that has hosted personal conversations designed to challenge stigma and stereotypes since 2000.

There concept is to create a space for dialogue where topics are discussed openly between, what they label “human books” and their “readers.”  If you want to learn about some of their “human books” you can go on their website, www.humanlibrary.org  and meet their collection of “books” – actually you can even become a “book” as well.

I quickly went to their site and found myself immersed in this concept.  I filed through their “card catalog” and I met several human books like “Alcoholic,” and “Convert” (because that seemed intriguing as a pastor), and then I met Unemployed.  For the next hour I was occupied by the stories of real people that minutes before I did not even know existed. 

At one of the Human Library’s in-person events you can choose to listen, interact and -- unlike a real book -- ask questions of these individuals – or “human books.” 

Each person or “human book” is a volunteer with personal experience with their specific topic.  So instead of going and searching for a book at the library – you go to a library, museum, festival, conference, school, university, or private setting to choose a real person to engage and learn from. 

Immediately, I understood why The Human Library considered their work a worldwide movement for social change.  In just an hour online, I was moved to tears and even wanting to experience something like this in Indianapolis. 

But as I did more research about the Human Library, I began to read about one of their biggest challenges – that being listening.  As they have continued to adapt this concept for a worldwide audience, they have had to begin teaching listening techniques and even offering pre-listening exercises to help people become more aware of how much they struggle with listening.

The Human Library has learned that if people are not trained to listen well, it will be a crutch or barrier for the greater work of learning to, as they say, “unjudge someone” and “not judge a book by its cover.” 

In my doctoral work, I spent some time researching listening in the Bible.  Our scripture text for today, always found its way to my studies because James was giving practical advice to the early followers of Christ. And what he describes is very similar to what the Human Library Movement has learned.  James stated it simply:

“..let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger…

 and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls”

Interestingly, I found that James suggests that listening to others is a means of, as he says, “ridding ourselves of wickedness.”

As Quakers who believe there is that of God in others, we must acknowledge that when we are communicating with our neighbor – both sharing and listening – we may be hearing from the Divine through them – or as James refers to it – “welcoming with meekness the implanted word.”  

James goes even further and says that when we truly listen to our neighbors, we may even remove the anger and arrogance that keep us from following and hearing the Divine in our lives and the lives of our neighbor.  This makes listening to one another of utmost importance.

But let’s be honest…being quick to listen does not come easy.  Actually, listening may be difficult for many of us for a myriad of reasons. 

Ian Brownlee says there are 8 Principal Problems of Effective Listening – which I have been studying and considering in my own listening habits as well as the listening habits of those around me.  

Just take a moment to listen as I share these 8 Problems Brownlee identifies and see which ones are a barrier to listening for you.

Problem 1 is The Law of Closure

This happens when we are listening and begin to fill-in the “blanks” with information drawn from our own experiences so that we do not feel we have partial information.  It is the need to feel we have “all” of the information – even if it is wrong!  Yet sadly this can lead us to draw inappropriate or incorrect conclusions about what we are listening to and cause us to respond in a wrong way.

Problem 2 is the Law of Field.

Listening effectively means we stay focused on the person we are communicating with and concentrating on what they are saying (and NOT saying).  Sometimes we lose our focus by looking at our cell phones, or if our conversation is interrupted by someone, we no longer are able to listen effectively.

Problem 3 is Prejudice.

This can be conscious or subconscious prejudice. This may be related directly to the other person based on your previous experiences with them either directly or indirectly or based on the topic being discussed, the environment, or your emotional or physical state at the moment, or a myriad of other factors.  The key is staying aware of our prejudices and learning how to separate them from the person we are listening to. 

Problem 4 is Selective Listening.

This is when we come with our “own agenda” about how we are going to control the conversation in terms of topic(s), structure, duration, or preconceived ideas of how it will develop – instead of actually listening to the person speaking. This also means we tend to listen for what we WANT to hear instead of what is actually being said.

Problem 5 is Time.

To effectively listen, you need to be able to dedicate the time needed for the task.  If either party is in a hurry or crunched for time – the conversation will suffer.

Problem 6 is Logistical Structure or Congruence.

Most people tend to expect, and even look for, a logical sequence or structure to their communications.  If we believe “A” is true, and “B” is also true, then “C” and every following element must logically fit with the information preceding and following it.  If it doesn’t happen it creates an incongruence and leads to a block in the communication.

Problem 7 is Presuppositions or Going Beyond.

Some people extrapolate or in their mind go beyond what they hear instead of being contained by what the person actually says. 

Problem 8 is Questions.

As Quakers, we may understand this one the best, but not utilize it often enough when listening.  Asking questions periodically while listening can help clarify and help one gain a greater perspective on what the person is conveying – it also helps check to make sure you have heard correctly.

So, did any of those speak to your condition?  I know they did mine. 

They aren’t easy to identify sometimes, because we are too wrapped up with what we want to say, what we want to see happen, or what we think is right. 

Yet, if we are willing to listen, we may actually choose to change our perspectives, actions, or even what we believe. 

If anything, when we are willing to truly listen to each other, we at least begin to “rid ourselves of wickedness.”  The Greek word for wickedness in our text for today is kakia  which can be translated evil or wickedness but points specifically to the person who does this evil – or better yet the “evil doer.”  That makes those who don’t take the time to truly listen “evil-doers,” or as my commentary stated - people who desire injury. 

As a minister, listening to others and having people listen to me is crucial to my ministry. As a recorded and released minister among Friends, I was called to communicate what I believe the Spirit has led me to say – and I am very aware that not everyone wants to hear my perspective and that is fine. Even at times, some people feel it necessary to explain, to debate, or even expand what I have said to include things that I do not believe or have not said.    

Take for instance all the talk in our meeting about me not appreciating the organ.  I want to make it clear that I have never once said I want to get rid of our organ.  I have never said that I want to rip it out of the Meeting Room or even reduce its use.  I feel we have a wonderful balance of musical expressions at First Friends and am thankful for each of them. 

Even through all the difficulties of the pandemic, Eric and I worked hard to balance this out.  Yet in the last several weeks, I have had people tell me they have heard from others that I am anti-organ.  That is an outright lie and it comes from a lack of listening. 

As well, I want to dispel a couple of other rumors that I believe are simply a lack of listening.  I am not anti-Western Yearly Meeting or Quaker.  If you have heard that from someone or have come to believe it yourself, you have not heard what I have been saying and need to come to me for clarification. 

For over 10 months, I dedicated a lot of my personal time, during a pandemic, and on top of my duties as your pastor, to clerk the Leadership Search Committee in procuring a new Superintendent for Western Yearly Meeting.  I have served faithfully our Yearly Meeting, attended all our annual sessions for the past four years, and even at your asking was recorded among Western Yearly Meeting. If anything, I have been more committed to Western Yearly Meeting than many of my fellow pastors within it.

Do I want to see it change for the better and thrive, yes!  Does that mean I may talk openly about its difficulties and what part we play in making positive change? Yes! 

And in this same way, I want us to continue to change and thrive at First Friends!  We must not become stagnant and comfortable, or I believe we will simply dry up and wither away like many others around us have.  I do not want to see that. 

I believe strongly in the Quaker Way and that First Friends has a unique opportunity to make an impact on the greater Quaker World – If, and only if, we are willing to listen to one another.  

And no, if any of you think I am worried about being fired by First Friends for sharing honestly what the Spirit has led me to say (even if it is difficult, challenging, and not the most popular thing to say), that too is false. 

I have never once had the least bit worry of you removing me from this pulpit or from my ministry among Friends. I believe this to be a Divine Calling and sometimes that means I am going to be called to say difficult things, to challenge us to shift or change, to make us feel uncomfortable.

Folks, ministry is no easy task, but it becomes nearly impossible when people are unwilling to listen to each other.  And this goes for me as well – I too must constantly work on becoming a better listener for the benefit of our ministry and I am committed to doing just that.

I spend my entire week, every week, meeting with and listening to people (many of you), to my family, to my fellow pastors, to new people I meet for the very first time.  I work very hard on trying not to allow those eight problems of listening to get in my way, so that I can truly experience that of God in those around me.  And the reason being is I truly love each of you, want to hear your stories, and want you to know I believe we have something incredibly special that must not be ruined by a lack of listening. 

Folks, listening is a key factor in effective communication as well as effective ministry.  So, I ask you this morning…

Will you join me in this commitment to work on becoming better listeners? 

As we enter Waiting Worship, this morning, I pray these queries will challenge us all in our listening skills and for the betterment of our relationships as a gathered community of Friends.

1.     Am I quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become anger?

2.     In what areas of my life do I need to work on listening more and speaking less?

3.     Of the 8 Problems of Effective Listening, which one(s) do I struggle with the most?

8-8-21 - Let Your Life Tell the Story

Let Your Life Tell the Story

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 8, 2021

Good morning Friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  Our scripture passage for this morning is

Matthew 5:14-16 (The Message)

14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Last week, I spoke of the importance of Quakers sharing stories that transform life. To do that, I gave a brief history lesson about the transition Quakers have been making from our original sacred stories and our loss of a common vocabulary.  I also challenged us, with all our different backgrounds and religious journeys to return to sharing our stories so that we may, once again, find our common vocabulary to inspire, heal and transform a new generation of Friends.

Already, I have had some wonderful conversations with several of you and even  experienced some story sharing sessions this week that have proven the importance of this among Friends. 

So today, I would like to continue this teaching and expand these thoughts to help us see more clearly just why and how we might begin to make a difference through telling (or better yet - living) our stories.  

If I had to identify just one topic that I think perplexes Quakers it would have to be IDENTITY.

In almost every serious conversation I have had among my fellow Quaker pastors and leaders in my decade among Friends, at some point we have discussed Quaker Identity.  Often those conversations digress into a discussion about how Quakers are having or have been having an “identity crisis” – leaving us asking questions like, “Who are Quakers, today?” and “What is their distinctiveness in our world?”

History clearly shows us that the stories we tell have a lot to do with establishing our identity.

Just take for instance most religious faiths.  Each has a set of stories they use to establish their perspectives and understandings of what they believe and unite around.

I immediately think of our Hebrew or Jewish sisters and brothers and the importance of the Passover Story (which later becomes part of our story just reinterpreted by Jesus). 

If you remember, in the Torah, God commanded the Hebrew people to remember their story and continue to retell it so they would never forget their liberation. 

To this day, Hebrew people continue the tradition through the annual Seder Meal and many scholars believe this story alone to be a major factor in their survival as a religious faith. The Jewish people have suffered greatly throughout history, but they have been able to reinterpret this liberation story over and over to help them find hope as a people.

We too, have a plethora of stories we like to tell that help form our identity. From George Fox on Pendle Hill to Elizabeth Fry and her work in prisons, to John Woolman visiting the Native Americans, we tell, and re-tell these same stories to help remind us of our testimonies and our shared identity as Friends. 

I remember reading George Fox’s Journal for the first time.  Sadly, George was not that good of a writer, but that did not matter as much as how I connected with his story - both his mystical understanding of his relationship with the God-within, as well as his struggles and tensions within the Anglican Church (which I too was a part of and struggled to understand). 

But I will be honest, being raised in a much more orthodox Christian denomination that often downplayed or simply ignored the mystical side of faith made me struggle and even question George Fox’s experience and enlightenment.

I, along with many spiritual seekers today, needed more than mythical stories of the past – especially from dead people – to inspire and engage me. 

If it wasn’t for me having the opportunity to meet real-time Quakers who shared with me their current-day stories and lives, I probably would still be searching. 

I remember vividly the lunch I had with my mentor, professor, and Friend Carol Spencer.  As she shared her faith journey and understanding of the Quaker Faith with me, I began to see myself in her story. I related to her commitments and desire to teach a spirituality that embraced and honored “that of God in all people”.  She would later introduce me to Friend Colin Saxton.

Even though, at the time Colin was the Superintendent of the Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, he was also known for his work for peace and reconciliation both locally and globally.  The first time we met over breakfast – Colin and I shared our stories over several hours.  Again, I found myself being drawn in by his passion for, and willingness to not just know, but put into action, his Quaker beliefs, and perspectives.  Carole and Colin are Quakers who continue to let their lives speak what they believe.  

Ironically, it was George Fox himself who charged us to “Let our lives speak.”  Let our lives tell the story.

For that matter, even Jesus told the people of his day to let their lives speak.

And George had probably learned this from reading the life and ministry of Jesus within scripture. 

Listen again to the words of Jesus from our scriptures for this morning,

14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Yet, let’s be honest.  Too often instead of letting our lives speak, or tell the story, or light up our world, we rely on retelling the story of someone else, or debating the actions of someone else, and often never get around to letting OUR lives speak. 

Could this be why we have lost our impact in this world, because we spend too much time debating the stories of the past and not living the stories of today?  

It probably is easier to sit on a computer, or in a meeting, or even in the parking lot of the Meetinghouse discussing the stories and actions of people from our history, but how are you and I “bringing out the God-colors” in our world? 

What I find interesting is challenging people to name modern-day Quakers who are letting their lives speak? 

After I shared about Quaker Bayard Rustin and his impact on the American Civil Rights Movement a couple years ago at Yearly Meeting, I had someone mention to me how it is good to hear about the impact of more modern-day Quakers.

Later in the afternoon, I began to think about that comment…modern-day Quakers?  Bayard Rustin died in 1987.  I was just starting high school when he died 34 years ago.  And Rustin’s organizing of the March on Washington where Dr. King gave his now historic “I have a Dream” speech was back in 1963 -  ten years before I would ever be born.  That is not so much “modern-day” as I think of it.

The two era’s we Quakers most focus on when telling our stories is the 1650’s at our founding and 1960’s during the American Civil Rights Movement. Well, and then there was that brief embarrassment for Quakers in the 1970’s named Richard Nixon, but we will not talk anymore about that. Actually, I Googled “Modern-Day Quakers” and the only name that came up was Richard Nixon – again, he is dead and not the best example. 

Please don’t get me wrong – the stories of the past are important, sometimes foundational, even often helpful in correcting and fixing our mistakes, but when we fixate on them, worship them, or allow them to speak for us, we do not take the opportunity to heed God’s call and live our own stories today in real-time.

Instead, we get lazy or comfortable allowing other people’s stories to speak for us.  That means that that of God in us is silenced.  And that also means Quakerism  is silenced.

It seems clear why Quakerism is not a growing and thriving religious community overall – we have been caught telling the stories of the past while not living out new stories, today.    

What if, just for one year, each time we gathered at Yearly Meeting, or in our Local Meetings, or at any gathering of Friends, we committed to only share new stories of what God is doing in and through us?  I bet it would get those of us not living our stories to at least think or possibly engage.

And what if we didn’t only rely on telling stories from the past or other people’s stories, but rather committed to telling our stories through the way we live?  

Just maybe, as it said in our scripture for today, by opening up to others, we’ll prompt people to open up with God.

And before I close this teaching, I want to remind you of one more aspect of the phrase, “Letting your Life Speak” and that is allowing it to speak to you. 

Friend Phil Gulley wrote,

“It is about letting your life speak to you. You are the best expert on you.  Do you listen to your life?  Do you listen to your values, your passions, your principles? Let your life speak to you, because you are the best expert on you.”

So, this week, I want us to take some time to examine what our lives are speaking to those around us, as well as to ourselves.

Now, as we enter waiting worship, join me in pondering a couple of the queries I already presented:

1.     Do I spend too much time debating the stories of the past and not living the stories of today? 

2.     How am I “bringing out the God-colors” in our world? 

3.     What is my life speaking to those around me, as well as to myself?

8-1-21 - Sharing Stories That Transform Life

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 1, 2021

Good morning and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning our centering text is from…

Ephesians 4:4-7 (Message).

You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. 

Earlier this week, Beth sent me an email that included the following quote from Richard Rohr,

“Without the great stories that free us, we remain trapped in small cultural and private worlds. True transcendence frees us from the tyranny of I Am and the idolatry of We Are.”

I found this quote a summary of what I have been led to say this morning.

Every year after attending Yearly Meeting Sessions, I spend some time reflecting.  Often, I find a sense of frustration brewing in my mind that often spills over into my conversations. The main thing that consumes my thoughts is the wide range of differences, experiences, and beliefs among Quakers.

It amazes me that each year we gather from our various Meetings throughout mainly Indiana for business where a wide range of beliefs and experiences are on display. Some beliefs and experiences that clearly differ from mine, and from other Local Meetings within our Yearly Meeting. We often walk on eggshells trying hard to avoid engaging them, because we fear exclusion or simply seeming unkind, but they still are clearly present.

Often, Quakers claim that even if we have different beliefs, we all have the same underlying experiences in common, but the more I listen to our various Spiritual experiences, I realize this is just not true. 

Some Quakers find a special oneness with the natural world, others encounter the sacred in other people, some experience the presence and guidance of a personal God as described in the Bible, others describe visions and encounters with spiritual beings, and still, some find their deepest source of meaning in what I would call ethical principles or values.  It is a mixed bag of beliefs and spiritual experiences – no uniform or formulaic occurrence.

Now, some have a problem with this diversity of experience.  Some speak up and argue while others roll their eyes and stay silent.  Serving three different denominations in my lifetime, I can tell you this is not unique to Quakers. 

As a student of Spiritual Formation, I have come to understand that people’s spiritual experiences and beliefs depend on a wide range of factors – everything from their temperament, education, geographical location, family upbringing, and personal experience.

One thing that originally drew me to Quakerism was the diversity of religious understanding, opinion, experience, and the opportunity for people to ask questions and explore the factors that have created one’s faith.

Now, this is not how it has always been among Quakers. Friend Craig Barnett of Britain Yearly Meeting gives us some background that I think is important and helpful in understanding the change that has taken place.  He says,

Until the late 1960s the Quaker community as a whole shared a collection of sacred stories. They knew and used the stories of the Bible, including the life and sayings of Jesus, the creation story, the history of Israel, and the writings of the prophets and apostles, to explain the meaning and purpose of their community and its practices.

The first generation of Quakers called their movement ‘Primitive Christianity revived’; identifying themselves with the story of the early Church. George Fox drew on the Gospel stories in which Jesus promised to return at the end of history to claim that ‘Christ has come to teach his people himself’, in the form of the ‘Inward Christ’, within the lives and bodies of the ‘Children of the Light’. This made sense of Quaker worship as the way that the gathered community encounters the presence of Christ and expects to receive inspired ministry and guidance.

The distinctively Quaker versions of the Christian stories explained their Meetings for Church Affairs as discerning God’s purposes for the community. Quaker testimony was shaped by the Sermon on the Mount, which prohibits oaths, violence, empty ritual and religious hierarchy. Early Friends understood their testimony as the way that God was revealing the Divine intentions for the world through the Quaker community. 

Because Quakers had these stories in common, they shared a language for describing their experience. Quaker writings until about 50 years ago are filled with references to Biblical characters, parables, myths and symbols, which all carried shared meaning because of their resonance with familiar stories.

Yet listen carefully to what he says next…

Quakers used these stories and symbols in distinctive ways, which were often sharply at odds with official versions of Christianity. They were also given creative new interpretations, according to individual Friends’ differing perspectives and spiritual experiences. The use of these shared stories was not a sign that Quakers all had the same beliefs, but that they had a common vocabulary for expressing and interpreting their differences.

A lot has changed among Quakers since the late 1960s.  We live in a much more plural and secular America.  Quakers today, are much more diverse in the stories we use to make sense of the world.

It is clear as we sit in Yearly Meeting Sessions and listen to the different interpretations of the Bible that we no longer share a common vocabulary of Biblical stories.

Some Quakers have a high view of the Bible, while others find guidance from other sources, everything from Buddhist to humanist understandings, to many other traditions of thought.

One of the things I love about First Friends is that we are not afraid to use stories and ideas from many different sources to try to make sense of what we do, and to understand and describe our experiences.

Craig Barnett points out the difficulties this can create. He says,

Because we don’t share a common language that we can expect to be accessible to all, we rely on others trying to ‘translate’ whatever language we use into their own terms to understand what we are saying. But since we don’t know what concepts or stories others are using to ‘translate’ our words, it is difficult to know what, if anything, we have managed to communicate.

I believe this is why, every year I walk away from our Yearly Meeting Sessions so frustrated.  We have a communication problem at the core of who we are.

And one of the most important distinctives we must make is that having the same stories does not automatically mean we have the same beliefs. This is evident just by looking at all the varieties of Christian denominations in our world – which as of 2012 we had over 30,000 just Christian Denominations.

What we have to realize is that the stories that many of us embraced and used to translate our life situations have continued to evolve.  Today, every single religious denomination has many individuals sitting within their buildings believing a variety of things.  This is mainly due to the availability and accessibility of religious resources, the internet, and so many more opportunities for religious and spiritual education.

George Fox may not have been in favor of credentialed ministers, but with all that we continue to learn about our stories and the stories of other religious groups, education is becoming more and more essential. Again, causing more communication breakdown. 

Beth and I are extremely blessed that you respect our education and see it helping our community gain new perspectives, spiritual insights, and growth.

When I went through the Recording Process in Western Yearly Meeting, I had to read our Faith and Practice in detail.  Since I believe as Quakers originally taught that our Faith and Practice is a guide for our life and a fluid document that should continue to be questioned, I found poetic wording, beautifully crafted statements and queries, and some things that I completely disagreed with, or that time, further insight, and ongoing revelation has proven needs to be changed.

What I realized during the Recording Process was that the other pastors preparing for recording did not have the same shared stories or beliefs that I had – I wasn’t even sure that the Yearly Meeting I was being recorded within held the same shared stories.

I have come to realize we live in a culturally and spiritually diverse world, and that includes people with a variety of backgrounds, religions, and cultural influences and life experiences. 

That means we are all going to have different perspectives, interpretations, and experiences.

Personally, this may come as a shock to some of you, but I no longer rely solely on Christian stories or just the stories from the Bible to guide my life.

Don’t get me wrong – they are still very important to me, because they are part of my make-up, my heritage, and they are the stories that are the easiest for me to draw from.  But even many of these stories, I have learned to reinterpret or see from different perspectives.

And then there are all of those narratives that I was never taught growing up, the people groups I never encountered, the cultures I never explored, and yes, stories I had never heard, that if I let them, could speak to my condition and enhance my spiritual journey.  

So, as I have reflected this week, I have realized that if we are going to continue our Quaker legacy, we are going to have to stop avoiding sharing all of our stories, even if they are different, even if they are not solely what some label Christian or Biblical in nature.

We must acknowledge that we now live in a different world than our ancestors. We live in a culturally diverse society, and our community includes people from many different backgrounds, with all sorts of religious beliefs and stories – and if we are willing to listen to them they just may be beneficial for our evolving Quaker faith.  

What I realized as I pondered all of this was that we desperately need to start sharing our stories with each other once again – no matter how different they are. 

Not only could this help us create a new common vocabulary for a shared understanding, but it also could be a way to express and interpret our differences.

We can’t simply continue to reinterpret or tell stories from the past and expect everyone to relate – If we believe in ongoing revelation – we need ongoing story-telling of what God is up to in our lives, today! 

It is clear sitting in the Western Yearly Meeting room in Plainfield or on Zoom that we don’t really know each other or what God is doing in our midst, anymore. We have become out of touch and need to listen carefully to each other to renew our hope and learn to communicate once again.  

This is what I love about our Seeking Friends Class here at First Friends. I can only speak for the last four years that I have facilitated these classes, but in those four years I have listened as we have all taken turns sharing our stories, our interpretations, our spiritual journeys within Christianity, Quakerism, and outside of it as well.  My faith journey has been enriched and my understanding of the Quaker Way has grown and I know others have, as well.

Yes, we all have different backgrounds and religious experiences that have shaped us and somehow they have drawn us to be among Friends. I think it is far time we started to understand why.

This isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen overnight. Because what it means is we will be asked to be vulnerable and open our lives and faith journeys and struggles to each other.

Sadly, too often, we avoid this type of sharing within our Yearly Meeting because we fear being judged, rejected, or exposed by the stories we tell.  This makes it unsafe to tell our stories because they may be brushed aside or not valued, or simply rejected.  

I sense, we think it to be easier to gather each year and simply avoid the stories that need to be told and never get to know each other. But that is causing our demise.

As Craig Barnett warns,

The risk with continuing in this way is that we will steadily lose any shared tradition of religious practice. Without shared stories that describe the significance of core Quaker practices such as worship, discernment and testimony, the Quaker way cannot survive. It is a meaningless, indifferent universe, in which we can arbitrarily choose our own values but never find any inherent purpose or value. There is no truth to be discovered, only ‘personal truths’ to be asserted and projected onto the blank screen of the world. No purpose to our life beyond our own preferences, no guidance to be found, and nothing to heal or transform the world through us.

Folks, I am tired of coming home from Yearly Meeting sessions or Quaker Events wondering when we will again change the world as our Early Quaker Ancestors did. 

I have decided that it is not worth being silent, but that it IS worth being judged, rejected, and exposed.  Because if our stories truly speak to that of God within us and within our community, then no one can really discount that.  And whenever I am willing to be bold and share my experience, my story, my faith journey, someone benefits, Quakerism benefits, because communication is happening once again. 

My hope this year is that we will take time sharing our stories, our experiences, our journeys of faith, so that at First Friends and maybe within our Yearly Meeting as well, we will begin again to have a common vocabulary that will inspire, heal and transform a new generation of Friends!

Now, as we enter waiting worship, I ask you to take a moment to ponder the following queries..

1.     What are the stories that have shaped my understanding of my life as a Quaker?

2.     How might communicating my story help create better communication with those at First Friends and within our Yearly Meeting?