January 2008 • $5 Quaker Thought FRIENDS and Life OURNAL Today
Nurturing Youth: Friends Camps Clearness Committees Separation of Church and State An • AMONG FRIENDS independent magazine serving the New Beginnings and Gratitude Religious Society of friends very New Year arrives with its promise of things to come, fresh starts, new opportunities. In reality, we are always standing in that place, yet somehow we Editorial Echoose threshold times to remind ourselves that it's time to start over. As I Susan Corn>n-Finnerty (Publisher and Executive Editor), write this, snow is falling outside my window and the tree branches there are bare. Yet Robert Dockhorn (Senior Editor}, Rebecca Howe {Associate Editor), Melissa Kay Elliott (Acting Associate the woodpecker who searches for his sustenance on that tree knows that there is life Editor), Judith Brown (Poetry Editor), Joan Overman beneath the surface, that things are not' exactly as they appear ro be. So often, I find (Book Review Assistant), Christine Rusch (Milestones Editor), Guli Fager, Mary Julia Street (Assistant myself making that same observation-that so much of what transpires in this world Milestones Editors), Robert Marks, George Rubin (News is invisible ro the naked eye, not easily observed regardless, but has its own place in Editors), Kara Newell (Columnist), Lisa Rand, Marjorie Schier (Proofoaders), Party Quinn (Volunteer), Rachel the mystery of being nevertheless. Tashjian (Intern} Two articles in this issue discuss thresholds for their authors. In "Clearness Production Committees at the Crossroads of Our Working Lives" (p.6), William Charland Barbara Benton {,4rt Director), Alia Podolsky (Assistant Art Director), Peter Deitz (mb Manager) discusses the way that an unexpected clearness process opened him up to a new path Advertising, Circulation, Development as a writer-a gift of way opening, when he thought he was seeking something else. Gabriel Ehri {Associate Publisher), Larry Jalowiec Robert Neuhauser tells us in "Quaker Peacemaking Pur to the Test" (p.12) about an (Director ofAdvancement}, Nagendran Gulendran (Advertising Manager), Karen Joy {Database Manager), encounter with an angry gunman that required him to act upon his values to find a Nicole Hackel (Circuk:ttion Assistant), Kay Bacon, way to defuse a difficult situation, taking him from theory into direct action. Behind Ruth Petern>n (Volunteers) Administration each of these stories, for me, there is the Great Mystery-the amazing way that we are Marianne De Lange (Office Manager), Tom McPeak given what we·need at the time we most need it. Way opens. (Accounting Services) One of the immense blessings of working for Quaker organizations, I've found, is Board ofTrustees Barbara Andrews, Catharine Bell Wecreroth, Jon Berry, to be privileged to see way opening in regard to our work. This happens in so many Paul Buckley, Katharine Clark, Karen Cromley, John contexts, it would be impossible to cite them all. But a recent example may serve: Darnell, Mary Ann Downey {Assistant Clerk), Walter Evans (Treasurer), Linda Houser, Bobbi Kelly, Paul Associate Editor Becca Howe experienced a sudden health crisis this past August. It Landskroener (Recording Clerk), Pat LaViscount, Linda became clear that she would need to take extended time away from her job, leaving a Lyman, Jay Wade Marshall, Barbara Mays, Pete McCaughan, Ron McDonald, Nancy Moore, Michael substantial gap in our editorial workforce. We posted a notice on an Internet website, Moulton, Mark B. Myers, Nan O'Connor, Liz Perch, searching for temporary editorial help--and former Associate Editor Melissa Elliott Janet Ross (Clerk), S. C. Thomas, Rich Van Dellen, Margery Walker, Elizabeth Years appeared, able to fill the gap beautifully. She'd gone to the Internet site looking for FRIENDS j OURNAL (ISSN 0016-1322) was established work, knowing nothing of our opening. You can see both of them on the facing page in 1955 as the successor to The Friend (1 827- 1955) in our holiday greeting to our readers. We experience small miracles regularly. and Friends lntelligmcer (1844-1955). Actually, the JOURNAL itself is a miracle each month. With the abundant flow of • FRIENDS jOURNAL is published monthly by Friends Publishing Corporation, 1216 Arch Street, 2A, manuscripts offered to us, and the hard work of 13 regular volunteers and numerous Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835. Telephone (215) 563-8629. E-mail [email protected]. interns, and the dedication of our 13 staff-7 of whom are only part-time, we Periodicals postage paid at Philadelphia, Pa., and manage to publish this magazine and do the marketing, ad sales, and fundraising adrlitional mailing offices. needed to keep it solvent. Today I chatted with a former staff person from another • Subscriptions: one year $39, two years $76. Add $12 religious periodical, one of 40 years duration and recipient of many awards, which per year for postage to counrries outside the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Inrlividual copies $5 each. went out of business a few years ago. I reflect on our comparative circumstances and • Advertising information and assistance is available on the remarkable way Friends pull together to keep this important vehicle of request. Appearance of any advertisement does not communication alive and strong-and I'm amazed, and grateful. imply endorsement by FRI.ENDS JouRNAL. • Postmaster: send address changes to FRIENDS jOURNAL, While on the topic of gratitude and new beginnings, I encourage you to have a 1216 Arch Street, 2A, Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835. look at our redesigned website at
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2 january 2 008 FRIENDS JOURNAL FRIENDS JANUARY 2008 JOURNAL VOLUME 54 , NO.I • FEATURES DEPARTMENTS •2 Among Friends 6 Clearness Committees at the Crossroads of Our Working Lives 4 Forum William Charl~d 25 Analysis What kind ofsupport do we need at career choice points? The 1 lOth US. Congress 8 Separation of Church and State 28 Witness George L. Alexander Walk tall: spoken ministry among Friends The author reviews this key Constitutional concept and its A Quaker witness remembered significance for Friends. 32 Books 12 Quaker Peacemaking Put to the Test Robert G. Neuhauser 36 News A tense situation revealed whether he had absorbed the culture 37 Bulletin Board ofnonviolence. 44 Milestones Nurturing Younger Friends: Summer Camps 49 Classified 14 Camp Woodbrooke: Taking Risks, Meeting Challenges POETRY Jacqueline Jaeger Houtman • A Friends camp in Wisconsin undergoes a transition. I I Falling Forward Morning Suns 16 My Very Special Place Ellie Greenler Karl Chamberlain She looks at camping from the inside. The following three articles focus on the experience ofcommunity in Holiday greetings from the FRIENDS jOURNAL staff: Baltimore Yearly Meeting's summer camping program: (left to right, back row) Marianne De Lange, Gabriel Ehri, Alla Podolsky, Margie Garrett, 17 Mothers and Daughters Talk (#I) Susan Corson-Finnerty, Nagendran Gulendran (Golen), Betsy Krome and Anna Krome-Lukens Karen Joy; (front row) Rachel Tashjian, Nicole Hackel, 20 Mothers and Daughters Talk (#2) Patty Quinn, Larry Jalowiec, Melissa Elliott, Barbara Benton, Rebecca Howe, Robert Dockhom. Sarah Pleydell and Ellie Walton 22 Experiencing the Fire at the Center Tasha Walsh
Front cover.photo by Riley Lark
FRIENDS JOURNAL j anuary 2008 3 • FORUM
The tools for resisting directing "loving-kindness" towards rhose compelled to improve my Spanish so rhat Thank you for anorher nourishing issue who hold opinions wirh which we disagree, when rhe opportunity presents itself I might which to me meant holding rhese more readily share &irh experiences. The ofFj in September! I was especially riveted by rhe insights and solid strategic thinking commencers "in rhe Light," to use our articles on Latin American Friends also made contained in Chuck Fager's article "Friends Quaker phrase. me wonder if someone might emerge to and Torture," which are applicable to many I smiled at rhe view rhat bloggers are like volunteer rheir services as a translator, so rhat issues wirh which we struggle. rhose who play golf-we "must not be some of rhe nourishing writing published in Chuck rightly points out rhat we have working very hard." Instead, I actively rhe jOURNAL can be shared wirh Spanish already lost most of rhe rights we rhought we protect some of my time and energy to blog, speaking seekers. Knowing how much of rhe had, and rhat we do not really have access to as it is pan of a spiritual leading for me, and work at Fj is done by volunteers, I am power in matters rhat are so critical for us rhus one of my most important activities. hopeful rhat someone will emerge when rhe and for rhe world. Chuck also points us to For rhose who are interested, my website time is right. rhe tools we do have, even in our and blog are at:
4 january 2008 FRIENDS jOURNAL and I receive encouragement to do still no one has answered the questions of commercial engagements. Others came to something. 'The Word became flesh and those whose family members died that day. recognize the links between trade and dwelt among us." Oohn 1:14) No one. Not the 9/11 Commission, not the oppression, refusing to produce materials for Today I ask God to open my eyes so I Congressional committees who studied the war or purchase the products ofslavery and may see, and in seeing, do something with intelligence failures, and not Popular appealing to members of the Religious and about all these words, and again make Mechanics (debunking 9/1 1 myths) and Society and others to disengage from such the Word flesh. other the critics of the alternative conspiracy enterprises. One such Friend, John Bright JeffDe Wme theories. No one. On August 20 of last year (181 1-1889), was a Quaker factory owner San Pedro, Calif I was hoping the History C hannel would and parliamentarian from Rochdale, put the questions to bed, but they presented England, who employed his resources as an only the tired arguments of Popular abolitionist and advocate of the Rochdale Has the message changed? Mechanics that concentrate on straw men Pioneers, the founders of the modern cooperative movement. Louise Salinas, in "The Challenges of instead of confronting inconvenient facts. The affinity of Friends with the values 'Face to Face' and 'Hearr to Heart'" (Fj Oct. Some reputable investigative body or and principles of cooperation continued into 2007) excites us with her description of how major media reporter needs to tell us why the next century and is evident in networking has multiplied, expanded, and our government didn't prevent the attacks documents such as the 1930 edition of Faith created a great new network of Friends and given the many advance warnings, to explain and Practice of New England Yearly Meeting friends of Friends. the failure of our air defense system to (NEYM). Concerns identified include the It might also be challenging and exciting intercept hijacked airliners, and to provide control of industry, and proposals are made to consider how the "medium" is changing some believable explanations for the collapse for employees and employers to consider the "message." It was the Canadian of the World Trade Center buildings. themselves cooperators sharing in their philosopher and computer pioneer Marshall As a senior and lifelong activist, I've common purpose to serve their community. MacLuhan who opened a whole new field of hardly enjoyed a decem night's sleep since The concept of fo rmal representation for investigation and discussion when he September 11, 2001. For a year after the workers and consumers in relationship to proclaimed: "The medium is the message!" attacks I accepted the official story, but then business owners and wise experimentation He defined his insight as follows: I started to find bothersome inconsistencies in the story-my nose began to tell me looking toward answers to these questions Any technology gradually creates a something wasn't passing the smell test in is also presented. And it is further asserted totally new human environment. New York City, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa. that wealth should be regarded as a means Environments are not passive Apparently other people in the U.S. think so and not an end, with its responsibilities wrappings but active processes .... too-a Zogby poll released September 6, assumed in a broad spirit of Christian With the phonetic alphabet, classified 2007, indicated 51 percent of respondents service and brotherhood. wisdom took over from the operational would like a Congressional investigation of The following edition ofNEYM's Faith wisdom-the tribal encyclopedia. the Administration's actions before, during, and Practice ( 1950) likewise ·states that the Education by classified data has been and after the 9/11 attacks. We wait for development of a sensitive conscience the Western program ever since. Now, someone, some impartial body, to answer concerning the existing maladjustments, however, the electronic data the unanswered questions. unfair practices, and positive evils of our classification yields a pattern Andrew Mills economic system should be a viral concern recognition.... The 'medium is the Lower Gwynedd, Pa. to all Friends, asserting that the problem of message' means that a totally new distribution in the world's economic order environment has been created.... should be a matter of profound Christian This new environment reprocesses Friends' history in the concern. During the same decade, British the old as radically as TV is Quaker and industrialist Ernest .Bader reprocessing the ftlm .. . . Edmund co-op movement (1890-1982). began experimenting with Bacon of Philadelphia, discovered that From irs first days, the Religious Society worker cooperation, eventually turning his school children could be invaluable of Friends has asserted that living faithfully company over to his employees. Today, the researchers and colleagues in the task cannot be confined to places of worship but Scott-Bader Commonwealth is a worker of remaking the image of the city. rather must encompass every aspect of our owned and worker-controlled company lives. It is appropriate, then, that Friends operating on an international level; see Good statt, Louise Salinas. Now, on to have long wrestled with how to bring our
FRIENDS JOURNAL january 2 008 5 of Our Working Lives
by William Charland
rings with an unexpected call, he could be fired. or an e-mail arrives with a Over the years, as a career counselor new assignment. And sud and teacher, I've met many individuals denly the same old job feels with stories like that. They're at a cross ominous and strange: roads, perhaps looking for a new job, or exploring a new career. Based on my own • Richard was a data processing experience, I understand that situation manager in a company that very well. sometimes hired pro Some time ago, I was attending a con grammers as temporary ference at Pendle Hill Quaker conference contract workers. One center in Wallingford, Pa. It was a meeting day he was called into his of a group known as Quakers Uniting in boss's office. It seemed Publications-QUIP. Soon after the con the company needed ference began, I sensed that I really didn't help with a project that belong there. Oh, I was a fellow Quaker was falling behind sched all right, but I was a writer and these peo ule. "I pointed out that ple were publishers. I hadn't understood How can we offer others a safe and quiet their work and careers and, it m.aor be,
m our area programmers the purpose of the meeting. Nevertheless, are in short supply," I stayed on for the worship sharing groups, Richard said, "but my because I had a sense that they might help countered that ifI offered me with a vexing problem. them enough money they A few years back, I had broken into the would quit their present jobs field of journalism as a way of helping for the better-paying one. I people cope with the kinds of employ should run an ad offering a ment and training issues I'd dealt with as very high salary. When the a career counselor. I'd become a careers project was completed, he told columnist for a local daily newspaper. I me, I could just lay them off." enjoyed that work and threw myself into researching and writing my columns. fork in the road-it's an • Art worked as a night desk clerk at a After a time it seemed I was experiencing experience that affects many large hotel that happened to be across some success. of us at one time or another in the street from a topless bar. It was a My problem stemmed from my suc the course of our careers. We show up for good enough job, except for the prosti cess· The publishers decided to put me on work on a typical day and the scene looks tutes who sometimes spilled over from the front page of my section, and they familiar: same co-workers, same screen the bar to the hotel. Art had qualms assigned me an editor who began to tell saver on the computer. Then the phone about the profession of prostitution, me what to write. This person had been but he kept his opinions to himself promoted from the position · of fashion WiUiam Charland is a member ofGila Meeting Then, one night, a prostitute eame up editor, and she had some clear advice. For in Silver City, NMex., where he serves as con to ·the desk and asked to cash a check get the columns on emerging trends and vener ofthe Ministry and Oversight Committee. from one of the hotel guests. She need retraining, which was what I knew how He is the author ojLife-Work: A Career Guide ed to be paid in advance. Art knew that to write. Now I was to turn out copy on for Idealists, and a novel, Soundings. ifhe refused to cash a check from a guest how to behave in job interviews, and
6 january 2008 FRIENDS jOURNAL especially what to wear. ning with indecision, these Friends had ten. Psychotherapists sometimes talk I suppose part of my difficulty was that created a place where I could settle down, about "the rule of abstinence." That is, I felt like a hypocrite. To put it charitably, take stock of my values, and come to a when tempted to invade the space ofa per I'm not a slave to fashion. Nor did I think decision. They'd helped me find a space son and give advice, don't. Foreign lan that teaching readers what to wear was for the Spirit. guage educators speak of the "60/40 very important. So something in me I carne away from that experience with rule." Students learn best in class if they rebelled against my new editor. Yet here I a new confidence in the work of concen do the majority of talking. It is their grow was on the front page, my mug shot in liv trated, focused gatherings such as clear ing competence, not that of the instruc ing color. I had an opportunity to reach ness committees. I had a sense that, as tor, that counts. Similarly, a clearness more readers than ever before ifI followed Quakers, we could try more often to cul committee is not the place to showcase her directives, but only if I wrote about tivate that kind of ministry with one one's knowledge. subjects that I considered superficial. another. And I began to think more about And fourth, it may indeed be that the What to do? how we can offer others a safe and quiet primary prerequisite for serving on a When I carne back from Pendle Hill space to consider the questions that come clearness committee is a sense that one is with my experience in the worship-sharing up in their working lives and make the utterly unqualified to do so. I remember group, I knew what I would do. I went in kinds of decisions that could help them times when the agenda of a prospective to see the editor the next day and resigned affirm the purpose of what they're doing committee seemed overwhelming-say, from my column. "Look," I said, "I've and, it may be, change direction. preparing for an impending death-and I seen thousands of people lose their jobs in Now, I'm not proposing a science of believe that the sense of powerlessness that Denver when the energy industry went clearness committees. I have no doubt pervaded those groups may have opened down. What they needed was not a new that the movements of the Spirit in our us all to the power of the Spirit. Con outfit to wear for a job interview. They lives are often serendipitous, and it's fool versely, when I have been called in as an needed to learn new skills, and that's what ish to try to orchestrate all the moments expert career counselor or whatever, I've I know how to write about." when we may find centeredness and sometimes found myself talking too To make a long story short, I agreed to depth. But I believe it's worthwhile to much instead of listening to the person stay on the front page for another month. consider some guidelines for effective who had convened us. But I'd also write another short column clearness committees. Over the years, I've Once I served on a dearness commit each week on page three. That piece convened and served on a good number tee that met in our family room on a cold would address new skills needed in grow- of them, dealing with all sorts of serious winter's evening. A fire was crackling in space to consider the questions that come up in change direction?
ing industries. We'd call that second col issues. As I look back on these groups, I the fireplace. The young Friend who'd umn "Skills Update." At the end of the believe there are certain traits that charac called the meeting was facing some seri month, I expected to be let go. terized the best of them. ous problems in his work, and several of As it turned out, the story had a posi The first principle, for me, is that any us had spent a couple ofhours trying hard tive ending. It seemed the skills column Friend who asks for a clearness committee to advise him. Finally, he brought the addressed a need that no one else was fill thereby takes charge of the process. That meeting to a close. "That's enough," he ing, and before long it was distributed person sets the agenda, determines where said. But he asked us not to leave, wanting nationally on the Scripps Howard wire. I and when the meeting is to be held, who something more. "Could we just sit here researched and wrote hundreds of those will take part, and how long it will last. (I for a few minutes and listen to the fire?" columns and was able to write two books fipd that an hour and a half is an outer Clearness committees are a resource to from the material. limit and three or four Friends a good help persons who find themselves caught Later, I found myself reflecting on number of participants.) in some cloudy circumstances find clarity what had gone on at Pendle Hill. I knew Second, a clearness committee should in coming to a decision. These commit that group had helped me. But what had not set out to change anyone. Clearness tees function best when we Friends are they done? All I could recall was that I'd committees exist to help a person who is willing to share the honest data of our taken a few minutes to tell my story and wrestling with a decision find some clari human experience with someone who is they'd listened quietly. I'm sure one or two ty in the process. It may be the case that seeking a direction. For Quakers, they're had assured me that they understood my the seeker contributes to the quandary in based in confidence in the capacity of dilemma. But that was all. which he or she is caught, and perhaps each person to find the right way forward, Still, I knew that I'd experienced a could use some professional help. A dear when nurtured within a caring commu powerfully supportive ministry, without ness committee may make such a sugges nity of fellow seekers. 0 which I'd not have had the courage to take tion. But it is not the role of the commit a stand at the newspaper and help the edi tee to engage in therapy. tors understand the purpose of my col Third, the primary job of a dearness umn. At a time when my head was spin- committee is not to give advice, but to lis- FRIENDS }OUilNAL]anuary 2008 7 SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND
by George L. Alexander he separation of church and state ment refers to religion generally, and not they made no reference to God at all and is currently the focus of much to "a religion." Thus one reading might in fact offered the unique concept of T debate. The concept is increasing be: "Congress shall make no law respect deliberately separating church and state. ly challenged by religious groups and dis ing the validation of religion." Some scholars view this as perhaps our cussed in the media as conflicting claims The founders of the United States were greatest contribution to human history. move through the courts. This overview influenced by the Enlightenment and It is clear from the record of that time of the subject is organized around four were thoroughly familiar with the trou that the First Amendment was intended questions: What is the historical back bled and violent history of religion in to protect nonbelievers and even explicit ground of the First Amendment, which Europe, where the rulers and clergy had opponents of religion to the same extent established the separation-what was it fought one another for power or had that it protected the adherents ofdiffering meant to achieve, and why? How can we joined forces with one another to impose religious faiths. While many of our understand the current struggle over the their religious beliefs on the people. The founders were religious men, most were "wall ofseparation"? Is there a way to ame .founders wanted to protect their new not fundamentalists or evangelicals. They liorate this conflict? And how do Friends country from the threat'that once again viewed religious beliefs as a benefit to relate to the separation? I will address each the absolutism of a religious belief might individuals in their private lives while hav of these topics in turn. ally itself with the temporal power of the ing no role in shaping the government of state and thus impose its will on the peo all the people. John Adams wrote that THE HISTORY ple, limiting their reasonable freedom to "the Government of the United States is he First Amendment begins: enjoy liberty, to pursue happiness, and to not in any sense founded on the Christ "Congress shall ma,ke no law practice religions of their individual ian religion," implying that good citizen T respecting an establishment of choosing, or to practice no religion at all. ship does not rest upon religious assump religion or prohibiting the free exercise The Age of Faith was to be superseded by tions. Thomas Jefferson wrote of "believ thereo£" Two things are notable about the Age of Reason, and for the first time ing that religion is a matter which lies this statement. First, the word establish in history "the people" were to be sover solely between man and his God, and that means not only "to place upon a secure eign. (Note that throughout I write as man owes account to none other for his foundation" but also has older meanings, though our founders were of one mind. faith or his worship." Like others of his which include "to ratifY, to confirm, or to In fact we cannot know all disagreements day he assumed that all men, believers and validate." Note also that the First Amend- that arose among them or the details of nonbelievers alike, possessed a moral fac their resolution.) ulty adequate to support civic virtue. He George L. Alexander, a retired psychiatrist, grew This effort to dispense with the old wrote further: "The legitimate powers of up as a Presbyterian in Arkansas. He first encoun order and bring in the new developed government extend to such acts only as tered Quakerism as an undergraduate at Yale in only gradually. Despite the wish to escape are injurious to others. But it does me no the 1940s. He attentled Pittsburgh (Pa.) Meet the inquisitions and other religious perse injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 ing, where his fomio/ was active for near!J 40 cutions of the "old countries," the early gods or no gods. It neither picks my pock years. This article is based on a talk to the lnteifaith settlers nonetheless introduced religious et nor breaks my leg." When Jefferson Fellowship ofCross lands, intolerance into most of the colonies. criticized the Church's persecution of in Kennett Square, Pa., Nine colonies established official reli Galileo for his modern views about the on September 28, gions, and intolerance was widespread. In solar system, he employed a well-known 2005. Maryland, for instance, in 1694, to deny distinction between personal religious belief in Christ was punishable by death. beliefs that may reasonably be viewed as In some colonies only professed Chris private, and beliefs based on generally tians were allowed to run for public office. agreed-upon epistemic criteria and goals The Declaration of Independence in that exist in the public sphere. 1776 included references to God, such as This distinction between two types or "Nature's God," the "Creator," "Divine realms of human interest, one public and Providence," and the "Supreme Judge the other private, seems to me crucial in of the world." But this was a political understanding the First Amendment and document that needed power to the attempt to separate church and state. mobilize the citizenry in a time The distinction is between two different of war. Several years later, in mindsets or perspectives. It is ancient and more settled times, when to some degree intuitive. It needs to be the founders wrote a Con- . grasped intellectually and not taken on faith. It is not a revealed truth but rather
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is arrived at by people thinking about hu one another. In rare instances the state will For some believers the commitment to man problems and trying to solve them. forbid a religious practice, such as parents' spread the "Word" is intrinsic to their reli "Render unto Caesar the things that are denying their children medical care for gious practice. Caesar's and unto God the things that are religious reasons. In this instance a cultur Paradoxically, the Constitution, which God's" is an early Christian example. The al value not based on religion trumps a was created to protect our freedom to be contrast berween "reason" and religion value supported by a religious belie( diverse and tolerant of differences, does at during the Enlightenment is another, as is This view of religion as a private mat the same time guarantee religions the free the distinction berween the secular and ter for individuals or groups oflike-mind exercise of an endeavor that is intolerant the sacred in current parlance. These rwo ed individuals and unnecessary for the and directed toward imposing uniformity ways of approaching the world and our smooth functioning of society fits well of belief and conduct. Without the wall of experience of it, though different from with the Enlightenment ideals upon separation, this effort to impose religion one another, are not inherently in conllicr. which the U.S. Constitution is based. We can engage governmental power toward One is a public realm, concerned with are presumably a pluralistic, tolerant, sec achieving its goals. We see this in the public needs and purposes, open to evi ular society acknowledging many different repeated attempts to introduce prayer dence and to open-minded discussion. It beliefs and devoted to the common good into the lives ofschoo l children; to display includes the sciences, practical problem of all citizens. The.so- called wall of sepa the Ten Commandments in courts and solving, and other empirical and prag ration berween church and state is meant schools; to teach Creationism matic pursuits that are the same the world to keep us that way. We were offered in in the public schools under over. It offers some chance for bringing good fai th a situation in which religion the guise of Intelligent nearly all people into agreement. Dia could flourish with no threat to the Design (which is itself logue and debate are useful. Laws based in achievement of liberty and justice for all. masquerading as sci such a realm, whether laws of physics or ence); to introduce a laws of the state, are expected to change "WALL OF concept of the soul over time to accommodate new knowl or personhood into edge, new insights, or changing values. SEPARATION" a fertilized ovum, The other, though shared in groups, is here has ofren been conflict over which presum a private realm. Religious or absolutist the wall ofse paration. Sometimes ably changes beliefs that refer to gods, prophetic revela T the effort is to introduce religion abortion into tions, ultimate truths, and presumed uni into the schools or to suppress the teach versal values refer to things unseen and are ing of evolution. Sometimes it is to pro subject neither to validation nor to inval tect religious expression from governmen idation by empirical means. There is no tal interference. Sometimes it is an related concept of evidence beyond that attempt to support religion with tax dol of faith, and there is no reason to expect lars. It is a complex picture and conflict broad agreement. In this realm beliefs will is inevitable. Some earlier efforts, rwo differ one from another. The differences, spearheaded by Christian ministers, have however, are not differences in value, successfully breached the wall, namely, though sometimes a monarch or a pow placing. "In God We Trust" on U.S. cur erful church has stepped in and decreed rency at the time of the Civil War, and by virtue of power alone that one is more squeezing the words "under God" into the valuable than the others. Pledge of Allegiance during the anti The intention of the founding fathers communist frenzy of the McCarthy per when they guaranteed religious freedom, iod. In recent years, especially since the combined with separation of church and Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 and subse state, was to view religion in this private quent decisions concerning sodomy laws realm. The purpose was to protect reli and gay marriage, there has been an gion from encroachment by the state and increase in church-state litigation. to protect the people from the imposition Looking at the overall picrure, the of religion by force of law or other gov largest pressure on the wall of separation ernmental sponsorship. In other words, seems to stem from Christianity's com religion is a private matter about which mitment to expand itself to bring the people may continue to differ indefinite country, if not the world, to adopt a sin ly without harm to the government or to gle, uniform system of belief and conduct.
FRIENDS JOURNAL january 2008 murder; and to penalize homosexual indi on which the United States rests. First of God. His approach offers a good example viduals in any number of ways because of all, it is far from clear that all forms of of the diversity of perspectives on the First alleged immorality or presumed offense Christianity do support these basic values. Amendment. He believes that the pri against religiously conceived natural law. Furthermore, it is crucial to recognize that mary motive of the founders in separating A current extreme example of disregard values exist in the public realm just as they church and state was to prevent tax dol for the integrity of the United States by a do in religion. Many children learn their lars from going to religion and that they religious group is the attempt by the values in a family, tribal, or cultural con would not have objected to cost-free infil Christian Exodus movement to colonize text and not as religious teachings. Just tration of religious ideas, prayer, and sym South Carolina, convert it to a biblically because a value exists as a religious teach bolism into schools and public spaces. He based government, and then secede from ing doesn't make it exclusively a religious condenses the relevant Constitutional the Union. In all of these instances the felt value. There are no patents on values. The principles, as he understands them, into commitment to a concept ofGod trumps only specifically religious values refer to "no coercion and no money." In his view concern for the United States as a govern specific religions, such as acceptance of the contemporary church-state conflict is ment of all the people regardless of reli Christ as one's savior, devotion to the between "values evangelicals," who have an gious belief or lack of it. Koran, or faithful attendance at Holy altruistic motive to stabilize our society by Some vocal critics of court decisions Communion. Caring for the poor or pro enforcing the traditional religious values limiting religious expression view them as moting peace, for instance, are not explic upon which they believe the United States hostile to religion. Following the 1962 itly religious values. rests, and "legal secularists," who, like the decision banning prayer in New York · Societal values and civic responsibility founding fathers, view religion as a private public schools, Billy Graham protested existed in ancient Athens five centuries matter with no legitimate role in govern that the First Amendment guarantees before the birth ofJesus and are more than ment. He makes no conceptual distinc freedom ofreligion, not freedom from reli sufficient to support a secular society. tion between secular and religious values, gion. In this regard he is mistaken. The American history and the cultural values and seems to affirm the claim of the "val history is clear. While there is no freedom related to it need to be taught as such to ues evangelicals" that our society depends to live in a society devoid of religion, there children, preferably both at home and in on religious values. For Feldman the goal is freedom from the imposition of religion school. In addition, the values specifically is to achieve a participatory democracy on nonbelieving individuals. I think it is supported by religions may be taught with all people feeling included. The "val best to acknowledge this hostility toward freely at home, in Sunday Schools, in ues evangelicals" feel excluded if they can religion elicited by some of the court bat neighborhood dubs-whatever the peo not bring their foundational religious tles, recognizing that the hostility is ple want to provide outside of the gov beliefs explicitly into political and legisla directed toward the attempt by the reli ernment. Keep in mind that the separa tive debate. The resolution of the diverse gion to impose itself on others and not tion clause of the Constitution in no way worldviews would occur when politicians toward the religious beliefs and practices restricts the legitimate contribution that and legislators argue their conflicting val held privately. religion can make to our society. Often ue positions and then accept the vote of Some people of faith believe that reli religion-based groups, such as the Friends the majority in matters such as abortion, gious values are needed to insure moral Committee on National Legislation, lob .th e Terry Schiavo case on discontinuing behavior and to avoid a breakdown ofciv by to achieve goals of interest to both reli medical life support, and gay marriage. ilized society. I view this as a major mis gion and government. It is up to the legis Thus a law enacted for religious reasons is understanding. One can start with the lature to decide what is in the public inter considered to be acceptable. fact that there is not now, and has never est, subject to Constitutional challenge. Feldman would reject Intelligent De been, any evidence that people who pro sign from the school curriculum on the fess religious beliefs are more moral or bet AMELIORATING THE ground that it is not science. However, ifby ter behaved than nonbelievers. Although chance some school board voted to let it a religion may support a cultural value, it CONFLICT into the schools, it should be admitted, is not ipso facto the foundation of that e will never know whether or apparently despite the fact that the result value. For instance, all cultures that have not the founders foresaw the would be both coercive and cost tax dollars. a concept of private property have also a W conflict inherent in the First In essence he is saying that legal secu prohibition against stealing. The Ten Com Amendment: that, on the one hand, we larists, the group that views religion as mandments are irrelevant in this regard. are free to live with no religious beliefs existing in a private sphere and separate Our laws are not based on the Ten Com imposed upon us and, at the same time, from the government, have not succeed mandments. In fact in the United States we are assured the free exercise ofa religion ed in reconciling religious diversity with we are free to ignore seven of the ten. that is committed to imposing itself on national unity. His solution is to open up But what about the values of human others. The barrier erected to protect us is · political and legislative activity to explic decency that we all share? Some believe under a kind ofco ndoned assault. Can the itly religious input with the expectation that even the concept of the "common conflict be ameliorated? In theory, per that a majority vote will provide a satis good" and caring for the poor must have haps; but in practice, probably not. factory resolution. something to do with religion. They won One recent suggestion aimed at reduc Ifl understand his position correctly, I der how, without religion, we can raise ing the conflict is provided by Noah Feld am not able to share his optimism and do our children so that they continue to feel man, a professor of Law at New York Uni a natural commitment to the basic values versity, in his book entitled Divided by Continued on page 38
IO january 2008 FRIENDS JOURNAL Morning Suns
This morning Falling Forward while on death row I had a wonderful experience Have you ever seen a child of nothing so uncommon as joy, by Karl Chamberlain with eyes full of light a shower with hot water, take their first steps forward steam, and soap; and fall into loving arms? in that small space Any scientist can tell you -the shower's scarcely larger than a closet- that walking is 80 percent falling, 1thought of nothing but what child doesn't know this? so common as suffering We learn from our bruises. and stood instead in awe We learn from our joy. of the abundance of God. How did we forget?! Afterwards, I stood before the plain How did we forget steel door, rusted to a brownish-black, the glorious wonder? and marveled at the spray of water drops Is it death that steals which shone like the suns the light from our eyes? scattered along the surface Who taught us this fear? of our Universe-
I am learning to walk again. As a human being, each footstep errant trickle slipped away is full of light and laughte[ a falng star, With each footstep, I feel myself t:~---.~coma made of dust and ice falling forward into the arms of God. f~NM1- Jb181 ilto1he Heart
Falling with fear is a lot like death; but falling with faith is a lot like flying.
You don't have to believe me try this yourself! Change the way you walk, and whom you walk with, and you will change your life!
Remembe r, God loves us so much! God lets us fall forward so we can learn how to fly.
FRIENDS ]OURNAL january 2008 II Quaker Peacemaking Put to by Robert G. Neuhauser
any of us seem to absorb the front the fellow from above? Shout at use. The young woman called her son Quaker culrure of peacemaking him and tell him to stop or I'd call the Gary, giving me another personal avenue without any specific training. police? Walk away because it wasn't my of approach. MNor have many of us taken the problem? Go down to the scene and try I slowly stepped into view and said, opportunity to train ourselves to become to intervene? Then it really hit me like a "Hello Andy, what's the problem?" He peacemakers if a violent situation arises, splash ofco ld water: I was the only person seemed startled but not threatened. He and indeed you can't really anticipate around who could do anything to change clearly welcomed the opportunity to tell every situation you might face and the situation. me in no uncertain terms about his pain rehearse your actions ahead of time. So we I discarded the idea of immediately and anger about her supposed infidelities. may find ourselves unwittingly and calling the police. Their response time was She countered by asking him how she abruptly thrust into the role of coping problematic given the tenseness ofthe sit could continue to love him after he point with violence. When the occasion does uation. I could also imagine a big gun bat ed a loaded gun at her and her child, and arise, even in an unusual or dramatic tle if they came into the area with sirens besides that, she had not gone out with event, we may nonetheless somehow find wailing. If they confronted an enraged any other men. This exchange escalated as within ourselves the things that we have young man armed with a shotgun with a she directed towards me an equally force unwittingly absorbed or tucked away in woman and a child in the firing line, it ful denial of his version of affairs. This our memories that allow us to rise to the could lead to disaster. I concluded that point made him so angry that he strode occasion, to put this tradition of nonvio something had to be done immediately. I over to her and hit her alongside the head lent action (and experience) to the test, rejected the idea of the deer rifle, knowing with the butt of the gun. Clearly a debate and to succeed. that it might also result in a gun duel, and about the validity of each other's griev Our rural home sits above a small cliff besides that it was only a bluff since it was ances was not going to calm things down, created by an abandoned quarry. One against my principles to confront force but it did make clear to me the nature of afternoon, as I was working in the lawn, with force. Shouting and trying to shame the conflict. two shotgun blasts from below the rocky or coerce the fellow did not seem likely to I decided to come in closer. There were edge startled me. It sounded as ifa hunter succeed. I considered walking away and two options: walk toward them along a lit had flushed out a rabbit on the quarry ignoring the situation but immediately tle rise above Andy, or come in along the floor. I decided to walk over to the edge realized that I couldn't- ! was now emo van on a lower level. Since the last thing I and tell the fellow doing the shooting that tionally involved and committed in this wanted to do was to have him feel threat he was hunting too dose to a home, and very tense and extremely dangerous situa ened, I chose the latter. Here I was more would he please go somewhere else to tion. I told myself that it was my respon vulnerable myself and less threatening to hunt. But instead, below me I saw a pair sibility. I would now have to put anything him, yet close to all three of them. Then I of parked vans. Both front tires of one of I had learned about nonviolence as a sat down on a rock. Here, I would not ap the vans had been blown out by the shot Quaker into action and do something. pear to be threatening to anyone, and my gun blasts. A young woman was sitting in But what, and how? quaking knees would not have the chance the open door of the van, sheltering a five I decided to walk around the edge of to ·betray my inner state of mind. year-old boy. In front of her was a young the quarry and descend toward the scene Then it seemed appropriate to try to man waving a shotgun, haranguing her, of the confrontation, in order to allow change the tone of the discourse: "You and periodically poking the gun in her myself some time to think. I had very lit know, Andy, I understand how you face and the boy's stomach. tle to go on, regarding the nature of. the would feel if your loved one deserted you At first, I thought, this can't be real. confrontation and the apparent reasons for another man." I told him that I would When I got over the shock and accepted for it. As I approached, I stood just out of be very upset and angry ifm y wife left me that this was taking place right in front of sight and listened. The fellow was claim for another person. This got him to me, I immediately began to think ofwhat ing that the young woman had deserted thinking about his feelings rather than I should or could do. Any number ofsce him and was going out with other fellows. the situation. H e then began a long story narios raced through my mind: Call the She was claiming that he was just plain about how he imagined her deserting police? Retreat to my home, get my deer wrong. Each disclaimer from her brought him and how she meant so much to him rifle, and come out and somehow con- on another angry outburst. I heard her and that if she left him he might as well call him Andy. I remembered that I had go off and shoot himself because his life Robert G. Neuhauser, a member of Lancaster been told that in a confrontation you would be over and he would have noth (Pa.) Meetin~ is a retired electronic engineer. should try to reach the person as an indi ing worth living for. So the problem real The names ofthe individuals mentioned in this vidual rather than an object, so knowing ly was about feelings rather than the article have been changed. his name gave me a personal handle to aggravating situation.
12 january 2008 FRIENDS JOURNAL Now with the suici around Quakers for the previous 20 or so <.\al element intruding, it years that presented itself to me as the seemed right to discuss events unfolded. You never know what re that issue with him. I sources you have, till you need them! pointed out that things When I analyzed my actions later I seem to heal themselves boiled them down to these basic princi with time, and several ples and courses of action: months down the road An individual can and should take the ini things would seem very tiative to defo.se violence. different, but that suicide would cut off ings and the future. Our discussion, Nonviolence can trump violence-trust it. any future possibilities of reconciliation or involving all three of us adults, continued a better life. I also asked him how much in this vein for several minutes, sometimes Avoid any approach or stance that might he liked Gary and what this fight might tensely and sometimes calmly. appear or feel threatening. do to his relationship with him. Did he Suddenly, Andy became very quiet and Find a way to connect with the perpetrator want the little kid to be afraid of him? a strange look carne over his face. He as a person. About this time I began to realize who seemed to deflate. Then he dropped his this Andy fellow might be. If my assump arms and lowered the gun, looked at me Try to stand in the violent person's shoes and tion was correct, he lived about a mile and the woman silently, unloaded the convey that to him or her. away. I had never met him, but from what gun, put the shells in his pocket and Steer theperson to look at his or her feelings I had heard of his home life his loving turned toward his van. He got into it, caused by those events rather than the per relationship to the young woman was turned it around, and drove away. ceived problem or threat. probably the most important and mean I have wondered since just how I had Steer the perpetrator towards looking at the ingful thing in his life, and that his violent absorbed the "Quaker" principles that consequences ofviolent action. approach to this situation was absorbed seemed to guide me through this con from his father. I then began to help him frontation and enable me to successfully Avoid being judgmental. discuss his distress at the apparent loss of defuse the crisis. It wasn't any course on When I described this encounter to a the affection that had resulted from his conflict resolution or training that I had person who had been trained in the Help broken relationship with .this young undergone. It wasn't a how-to checklist of Increase the Peace Program, a youth ver woman and her child. handling a situation nonviolently that I sion of the Alternatives to Violence Pro He was gradually cooling off, and he had developed, but a gradual accumula ject, I was told, "we call that process, and began to talk about relationships and feel- tion of insights that I had absorbed being its outcome, transformingpower." 0 FRIENDS ]OURNAL j anuary 2008 13 L-VU'r J by Jacqueline Jaeger Houtman
InD=mbec 2005 adozen people met around a table in the basement of the Madison (Wis.) ~ Meetinghouse to decide the future ~ of Camp Woodbrooke. At this .~ small Quaker summer camp in 11: Richland Center, Wisconsin, chil- ~ dren are challenged to explore life ~ in a simple setting without junk ~ food, television, or video games . ...., The people around that table ~ the Friends of Camp Wood !:: brooke-were faced with a challenge of ed in continuing a tradition. They were ~ their own. The longtime directors of the interested in giving children the opportu ~ camp had retired, and it fell to this group nity to experience fellowship, communi ~ to determine if the camp would continue. ty, and simple living with nature at the ~ They hadn't raised nearly enough money only camp of its kind in the Midwest. The idea for a Quaker summer camp came to AI and Jenny Lang and their children in 1976, in New Orleans. After moving to the Chicago area in 1977, they looked for possible camp locations, but all of them seemed, according to Jenny, "too civilized or elaborate to fit a simple lifestyle close to nature." In 1979, they 80 acres and built four more cabins. They rented Friendship Center also added a Teen Adventure program for Camp, near Dodgeville, 13- to 15-year-olds who could continue Wisconsin, which had their involvement with Camp Wood been founded by Mil brooke, backpacking and canoeing waukee Friends. The first through the nearby Kickapoo River Valley. session of camp lasted The physical space of Camp Wood two weeks and hosted brooke is simple. Woodbrooke's cabins, to cover expenses. They hadn't hired· a eight campers. In 1980, there were two all named after birds, are primitive and director. They hadn't begun recruiting sessions, with a total of 23 campers. That open to nature. The program is based on campers for the session that would start in fall, the Langs purchased 140 acres near the Quaker values of simplicity, commu six months. Had this been a "normal" Richland Center, Wisconsin. It was a per nity, the interdependence of nature, and business meeting, the decision would fect, wooded location, with a pond for the inherent worth of each individual. have been a simple no. swimming and a barn. Originally built in Campers and staff work together to run But this was not a normal business meet 1886, the barn would be remodeled to the camp. Work crews may tend the gar ing, and its participants were not interest include a kitchen, dining room, game den, maintain trails, or cook snacks for ed in the bottom line. They were interest- room, and director's apartment. the rest of the camp. "There's a sense of A rush of activity, with the help of community," says former camper and jacqueline jaeger Houtman is a member and many Friends, allowed Camp Wood counselor Lorin Black. "A ·chance for treasurer ofMadison (Wir.) Meeting. Her two brooke to open in its new home that very everyone to pitch in and keep day-to-day children have attended Camp Woodbrooke, and summer, with two cabins and a total of34 life in camp running. It gives a strong her husband, Carl Houtman, serves on its board camp~rs over three sessions. Through the sense ofaccomplishment to be able to say, ofdirectors. years, the Langs purchased an additional 'I helped build those stairs."'
january 2008 FRIENDS JOURNAL Campers and staff also work together Many campers return repeatedly to close relationship with Madison Meeting, to choose each day's projects and activi Camp Woodbrooke. Teens who are too and the meeting nurtured the camp ties, from archery and carpentry to canoe old to be campers often continue their through its transition. In the months lead ing or writing the camp newsletter. Of involvement, stepping into leadership ing up to the 2006 session, meeting mem course, some activities are more popular roles as "helpers" or later as counsdors. Kari bers and attenders pitched in with leg than others, and if too many children Swanson spent four summers as a camper, work, elbow grease, and open wallets. choose those activities, they must negoti three summers in the Teen Adventure When a roadblock appeared or discour ate to find a solution that is acceptable to program, and two years as a helper. Lorin agement set in, a solution would appear. all. According to Dorothy Churchwell, Black also has a long history at Camp One member of meeting in particular was longtime Friend of Camp Woodbrooke, Woodbrooke as a camper, helper, coun instrumental in making Camp Wood "Participation in decision making and selor, and kitchen coordinator. brooke happen, although he never knew learning to give and take is one of the In the summer of2005, after a quarter about it. He had relocated to the East things that make Camp Woodbrooke century as directors, Al and Jenny Coast, where he passed away. A generous unique." Former camper K.ari Swanson announced that they were retiring. If bequest to Madison Meeting arrived just agrees: "Working with the same people Camp Woodbrooke were to continue, in time for the meeting to offer a financial every day, all day, can create tension. You somebody else would have to make it cushion to Camp Woodbrooke in the have to learn to work together, and Camp happen. A few dedicated Friends decided form of a promise. Funds would be held Woodbrooke is an atmosphere that teach to explore the possibility of running in trust and donated if Camp Wood es you how to work out problems." Camp Woodbrooke as a nonprofit organ brooke was unable to meet expenses in Two or three weeks of working togeth ization with a board of directors. It would the transitional year. With the support of er in this natural setting with no television or other electronic dis tractions often bring out new lev els of confidence and indepen dence in campers. Former camper Ben Skinner remembers that a session at Camp Woodbrooke al lowed him to "talk more freely, think more clearly, and dream more lucidly." The small size ofthe camp helps build community. K.ari Swanson recalls, "I really loved going to a place where I was accepted and I could be mysel£ Camp was always my safe haven. It is the one place I know where a 19-year-old can go and hang out with a 7-year-old and nobody thinks it's odd. You all become. part of a family." The support and security from this community allows campers to stretch their limits as they are gen tly challenged to explore new things. As Jenny Lang puts it, "Each person needs a challenge to develop full potential and each person has take tens of thousands ofdollar s just to get Madison Meeting, other meetings, and the right to choose that challenge. Camp the camp up and running by the follow supporters-and with the fmancial secu Woodbrooke has the underlying belief ing summer. If they were unable to recruit rity of the funds held in trust-prepara that people have the potential to find enough campers, camp income would tions, recruiting, and fundraising contin themselves within the process of creating not cover the anticipated expenses. ued with new confidence. with others." Camp Woodbrooke had always had a . By the end ofJanuary, with little more FRIFNDS jOURNAL january 2008 15 than faith, the board of directors made summer at Camp Wood the final decision. Camp Wood brooke was brooke. The rabbits and a go. woodchucks also chal It was crucial that the spirit and phi lenged campers on the gar losophy established by the Langs be pre den crew, leaving little for served. In addition, new people who got them to harvest. The involved brought their own gifts and per- kitchen crew had plenty to ~ spectives, and the camp continued to cook, though, thanks to ar ~ evolve. The menu changed. A volunteer rangements with a local or installed a supplemental heater to the ganic dairy cooperative and -~ solar water heating system. The Teen a community supported ~ Adventure program was revived. agriculture (CSA) farm. ~ The 2006 camping sessions began Like any summer l with another challenge in the form of a camp, the 2006 session ~ last-minute staff shuffling. Once again, had its problems: disagree ...-. unexpected help arrived when most ments between campers, ~ needed. Lorin Black, now a member of minor illnesses and in ~ the board ofdirectors, was led to leave his juries, and homesickness. ~ job and instead volunteer as a counselor. But there were also apples He stayed for all three sessions, joining a roasted over the campfire, cabin skits, and Beast," a giant bull.frog lurking in the pond. staff of counselors that included Kari hikes to Gnome Rock. The Langs' vision The last night of each session was Swanson, who was returning for her 12th for Camp Woodbrooke continued as marked by the traditional boat ceremony, campers gained confidence where candles were launched onto small and built community. Shy wooden boats on the pond as campers campers blossomed and reflected on memories of their stay and bonded with cabin mates. hopes for the future. The next morning Others beamed with pride family cars were loaded with duffel bags as they passed their knife containing woodshop projects, souvenir skills tests or built their first plaques signed by cabin mates, and Camp campfire. The group shared Woodbrooke T-shirts silk-screened by their "Nature News" with each camper. Parents got tours of the cab- sightings of deer, Luna moths, snakes, or "the Continued on page 43
by Ellie Greenler October 2005 can picture sitting on my bed at could hear the snickers of my cabin-mates dirty just like all the animals that got ( Camp Woodbrooke, the best up above me enjoying the afternoon. I to do that every day. I could hear the camp in the world! heard the birds sing outside in the dark chattering voices of my cabin-mates I smelled flowers along with fresh green pine tree. talking about what they wanted to do baked cookies. They made me feel Slugs and other animals were our the rest of the day. very energetic! I looked around and there. I could feel their presence in the Looking out of the mosquito net saw vivid green grass along the brook woods outside the cabin. I knew that they ting that surrounded my bed I could outside of our open-sided cabin. were out there eating all of the perfectly see the bridge that went over the Hearing the water flow in the green plants. brook. I could smell that it was going stream made me feel "at peace with I could hear the counselors sleeping in to rain soon. The grass seemed to wave the world." A gentle breeze brushed the other bunk, but I was too preoccupied to me with its flowing movement. over my skin with a swift wisp to it. I with the letter I was writing to my family "Bong, ding, bong, ding," I could to pay any attention to them. It was total hear the bells telling us it was time to EUie Greenler is a member of Madison ly worth it to come to camp. get up and go to our next activity. (W"rs.) Meeting. Now 13 years old, she wrote Sitting there in my bed I could taste Going to Camp Woodbrooke is one this essay--and her father took the photo the fresh air. Seeing all the mud by the of the highlights of my summers! 0 above-when she was I 0. pond made me want to go and get my feet
16 january 2008 FRIENDS JOURNAL by Betsy Krome and Anna Krome-Lukens
&my(~) AN1Pl ( dvr~ht-er) How would I have raised my daughters sending our daughters there in 1994. At age 11, I thought a Quaker summer without Quaker camp? Although Anna We had a rough beginning. Anna, at camp sounded like a good idea. I liked and Margaret were born into our meeting, 11 , proved to be the most homesick being outside, and three or four other chil I don't know how they would ever have camper ever- a total surprise to me. dren, our meeting's camp veterans, told acquired the idea of Quaker community Somewhere beneath rational thought, we marvelous stories of friends made, moun from the small group ofirr egular attendees expect our children generally to resemble tains climbed, and bugs conquered. I don't at our First-day school. The adults may us, and I was never homesick, even when remember when a fear of indefinable bad have some sense of building and sharing a I was six and off by myselffor a week with things happening to me while my parents weren't nearby-a feeling I have come to recognize as homesickness-started to seep into my subconscious. By the time my parents left me in the cabin, with my counselors doing their best to cheer me up, I was committed to being miserable. After three unhappy days, my father (who should never have listened to me crying on the phone) relented and drove three hours to pick me up. But I told my parents that I was ready to try again. I'm not sure if it was natural pig-headedness or a premonition that camp would always be part of my life, but on my second try, I stayed the whole time. I hiked with 13-year-olds and canoed on a trip with children of all ages. I discov ered that I liked the single-minded and purposeful existence of being "on the "' trail." I even stopped crying in time to ~ make some friends (who had been there ~ all along, if only I hadn't been so focused !' on myself). The next year, I returned to community, but Williamsburg (Va.) cousins I'd never met. So my daughter's camp, cried for a slightly shorter period of Meeting recognized many years ago that insistent and passionate homesickness time (numbered in days rather than the best way to introduce our children to caught me off-guard. What surprised me weeks), and among other excitements the idea of Friends community was to even more was the seemingly infinite made a movie that featured big fake send them away from us to attend one of patience of the camp staff-her coun dinosaurs. After that experience, how the Baltimore Yearly Meeting camps. selors, the nurse, the director-who con could I not love camp? Largely because of the support and urging tinually encouraged her. When I was 15 and 16, I went on Teen of my meeting, my husband and I began Something worked, because she want Adventure, a three-week trip of hiking, ed to go back. And when her younger sis canoeing, rock climbing, and service. At Betsy Krome and Anna Krome-Lukens are members ofWiliiamsburg (Uz.) Meeting. Betsy ter, Margaret, joined her, the chance to the end of the first trip, I wrote myself a is a potter and a freelance editor, and Anna is work off one week of tuition brought me· letter that I still have on my desk at home. working on a graduate degree in History at Uni to camp as a cook. Thus the camp that has I reminded myself that I, like anyone else, versity ofNorth Carolina in Chapel Hili. Both been central to my children's development could find the inner strength to be happy have been members ofBaltimore Year(y Meeting's also became a centering point for our regardless of where I was. In this Quaker Camping Program Committee. whole life as a family. community I was surrounded by people FRIENDS j OURNAl.. january 2008 17 As an eight-year-old she had a mean selor was because l remembered this time streak; as an 18-year-old counselor, kind of my life. ness was her first principle. Barry Morley, whose leadership shaped many of our camp practices, used to talk &e-tsy about the idea that camp is for the One of the rewards of being at camp campers. Of course it is, he'd acknowl for so many summers is watching the edge, but "really it is for the counselors." smallest campers grow up and be the sen Over the years I've come to see the truth iors, the leaders. When some of them of his view. In a society that defines adult return several years later as counselors, hood as an age to acquire a new vice, the circle is complete. I have watched this camp instead offers counselors the chance in my own daughters' lives, and then again to assume responsibility and act with in the lives of a dozen or more others. maturity. To be encouraged and empow The campers come to camp and who were able to show their support and ered to do important work in the compa understand it to be a place of magic. As love for me. I grew beyond my homesick ny of your peers, and then to have your they mature they are given chances to help ness and grew into leadership, as our coun peers acknowledge your strengths and . the magic happen, and as counselors they selors facilitated discussions about Quak support you as you face your weaknesses learn how to create the magic for the er process, community dynamics, and the is a situation many 40-year-olds are still campers. Those who stay on as staff learn role of consensus in group building. seeking. And for 17- and 18-year-olds it is how to support the counselors in this very powerful. daily creation of magic. I see an analogy here to the spiritual life of a meeting. A &e-tsy newcomer may find silent worship Now in our 14th year as a camp fami breathtaking, nourishing, and life giving. ly, I can reflect on what it has meant to us. Counselors are as much teachers as Only after some time and experience does The clearest testimony to what camp they are surrogate parents, and a good one learn that the meeting on First Day is meant to Anna was documented in the Quaker camp counselor knows how to supported and strengthened by many collage that her ninth-grade English lead a group of young people gradually Friends in many roles-the committee teacher had her students create each Sep through the components ofQuaker com members, those gifted in vocal ministry, tember. In Anna's collage, images of munity until the pieces fall into place and those gifted in pastoral care, and those canoes and clarinet are overlaid with quo the campers can recognize their positions gifted in maintenance or bookkeeping. tations from Quaker writers and peace (or their future positions) within an adult advocates. H er Quaker identity was community. Counselors respect campers, emblazoned in bold colors as a primary · and campers naturally respect counselors ~ element of her self-concept. Her sister in return. As a counselor at Shiloh, I Before campers arrive at Shiloh, the ~ Margaret's most impressive testimony strove to be both a role model and a friend counselors and staff spend a week doing ~ about camp was that during her last year to my campers. During my four years of chores, getting to know each other, and ~ she wanted to stay for four weeks rather counseling (which were followed by two meeting about camp-related issues rang ~ than the normal two, and she earned and years as in-camp staff), I worked with 13- ing from the spiritual (how we foster the ~ saved the entire additional fees hersel£ and 14-year-olds. When I was their age, Light within each member of our com- ~ ~ Margaret says that at camp she overcame I wasn't sure who I was or who I wanted . munity) to the pragmatic (how to deliver
!8 january 2008 FRIENDS JOURNAL epinephrine to someone in anaphylactic couple of nights on the trail and a few that I carry all of my food on my back, shock). Staff meetings begin with silence, miles of hiking. For the oldest campers on that the same food fuels my steps, and and the week is punctuated with meeting a Long Trip, it's nine days and close to 100 that my physical exertion is the only avail for worship. Although many staff mem miles on the Appalachian Trail. For all of able source oflocomotion. I love breaking bers come from outside the larger Quak them, it's a chance to experience the nat through the denser thickets of lower alti er community, the sense of Quaker pres ural world as a physical presence-the rug rudes and finding myself on a ridge where ence remains strong. Decisions are made of the uphill trail on their calf muscles, the the wind sweeps away my perspiration by Quaker process, the formation ofcom sweetness of water quenching real thirst, and my darker thoughts. I love singing munity is discussed explicitly, and every the sweaty work of propelling body and with my friends as I walk. I discover God one lives simply, in cabins without elec pack through the woods, and the reality through nature. In Quaker terms, hiking tricity in the woods. During this week of that the ground is your bed and a tarp is is a discernment process. pre-camp, we create the tenacious bonds your roo£ As tale after tale in the Thank- of a community that works. &etry After 11 years of sitting in &etry nightly fire and Thank-You Cir One of the ways the campers cles that bring campers back experience community is on together after wilderness trips, I their work crews. Each crew know to expect a few things. includes campers of all ages and Some enthusiastic child will tell a has several tasks each day. An story at the appropriate time, early work crew task is to name while the director is standing near itself and present a skit an her/his part of the circle--and nouncing its name. Work crew then this child will remember a skits provide a night of rowdy second story a few minutes later, amusement, outrageous ama and then perhaps a third one lat teur theatrics, and always a dose er still. I know, too, that a child of corny humor. The happiest who is new to camp, who has work crews carry over the spirit never heard the messages at Fire of the skits into their daily work, Circle, will say that camp has been singing as they wash dishes or amazing because "Here I can just scrub pots and pans. The simple be exactly who I am, and people truths are that there's a lot of will love me." This central experi work to be done in any com ence, the realization that we can munity, it's more fun to do it be loved just exactly as we are, is together, and singing gets the an experience we long for even dishes cleari faster. as adults. . ~ If campers learn about com Camp is a place of amazing, ~ munity while they're in camp, chest-pounding, heart-thumping 5- they learn a lot about them energy. So when the dining hall's ~ selves when they go out on their raucous, exuberant din quiets in a trips. Counselors plan carefully so that You Circle confirms, youngsters welcome few seconds for a moment of silence trips will provide an attainable challenge. a challenge and are rightly proud of them before eating, the silence is breathtaking. For the youngest campers, this is just a selves when they have met it. They learn Eighty or a hundred voices suddenly to encourage and support each other mute, and the quiet pulses. Likewise, through the rough parts, and they are morning worship with campers ranging rightly proud of that, too. around the rough wooden benches has a power all its own. Some of the campers have been going to meeting since they were babies; for others, this is their first Throughout my homesick episodes at encounter with silent worship. The breeze camp, the trail was a w~lcome refuge. My shakes the leaves in the woods around us, family had always gone camping, but the woodpeckers hammer at the hollow roughing it with kids my age was a new tree trunks, the wood thrushes finish their experience. Camp introduced me to the liquid morning songs, the worms and joy of hiking. I love the intricately caterpillars wiggle across the dirt, and the entwined solitude and communion of flying bugs cruise and land repeatedly. In walking through the mountains with a the midst of this unquiet silence, we con small group, on whom I rely for all my sider a query: "How do you quiet your human companionship. I love knowing mind in meeting?" Or "What reminds
FRIENDS JOURNAL january 2008 19 you of God?" And out of the mouths of 10- and 14-year-olds come some of the most amazing spiritual messages I ever hear. Children this age have a lot to say, but not many openings to say it.
Shiloh is my spiritual home. I am most centered during meeting for wor by Sarah Pleydell and Ellie Walton ship there, sitting on a wooden bench in the fire circle, surrounded by arching trees and wild creatures (the majority of which are, admittedly, insectoid). During the summer, Shiloh meets for worship I was not raised Quaker. It was my affirming experiences that others had every morning when the sun hasn't yet children's spiritual education through Bal dreamed up for her. crested the treetops around the fire circle. timore Yearly Meeting's summer camping I also saw the cliches (made cliches by Weekday meetings are short, since for programs that has, by default, been mine. their reiteration in so many a glossy many youngsters camp is their first expe It began somewhat belatedly one steamy brochure)-child-centered; eco-friendly; rience with silent worship. But from July afternoon as I was walking Camp experiential leamin/{>· a lovint> inclusive hearing campers' responses to queries, I Shiloh's sun-dappled driveway-maybe environment that honors and respects the know that many of them find meaning in seven or eight years after my children had unique gifts of every child-peeling right the silence. Every summer I leave camp started in the program. A space opened up off the page to live and breathe around me with a renewed desire to spend more time inside me and all at once I got it. I under as freely as the trees that offered respite in meditative silence-and some years I stood why this was where my daughter, from that fierce Viiginia sun. even succeed. calling transatlantic in a thin determined The week of my epiphany was the first voice, had begged to come home to, the time I had ever cooked at camp, ever tak summer when her life felt fragile and her en up the offer to defray my children's fees Erttsy . heart at risk-the same sacred space my through service. It was a box on the appli As campers my daughters spent only a young sons had made the marker for their cation form I had simply never checked. couple of weeks a year at Shiloh. Yet year, measured in increments "since Why? Because I had always been intimi the camp had an influence on their lives camp" and "until it comes around again." dated by "women who cook," especially far out of proportion to the time they As I strolled Camp Shiloh's grounds in and for large quantities. But 24 hours spent there. It established their spiritual that sultry summer afternoon, I under into my cooking stint, I let that one go as lives on the firm foundation of experi stood the seminal role it had played in my unnecessary baggage: I discovered instead ence. Camp made the Quaker world real daughter's development. Always brave the joy ofcooking good food for and with to them. 0 and gifted, she had taken those qualities good people, the camaraderie too of to camp and turned them inside out. In splendid parents and other sterling folk, the competitive world we live in she plus one delightful 19-year-old who was always bound to succeed, but here hadn't time in her busy summer schedule she learned to expand, to give herself to commit to being a counselor, but just over to the redoubled synergy of life couldn't let the whole Shiloh thing go. She that this fearful world of ours dimin and I ended up one early morning cook ishes. (Hold whatever you've got close to ing bran muffins for a hundred and your chest and guard it for all you're singing as many show tunes as our sleepy worth.) In Shiloh my daughter lived brains could muster, a capella and at the large, climbed mountains, camped in top of our lungs. the wild, fell in and out of the sweetest By the end of that week I realized cook of first loves, and then mothered ing in quantity was no more formidable a campers of her own, creating for them task than reading the recipe and trusting the beautiful, challenging, and life- to its inherent wisdom. Even heavy kitchen equipment was not without its Sarah Pleydell the mother, a member of modicum of internal logic. And there was Friends Meeting ofWashington (D. C), is a always the good sense of my compadres to writer, educator, and performer. A novel turn to, even in the midst ofa heated dis excerpt ofhers will appear in the forthcom cussion on the pros and cons of public ing Electric Grace: An Anthology ofWash ington Women Writers. Ellie Walton, the education, or some other cogent dilemma daughter, attends Friends House Meeting in in our and our children's lives. Work was Lontkn, England. She is a documentary never so satisfYing nor so simple. filmmaker and community educator. During that week (and subsequent
20 january 2008 FRIENDS JOURNAL however skeptical and fearful we jaded adults insist on remaining. In the name of parental responsibility and oversight we have ceased to trust our children, and, in some ways, life irsel£ Some 15 years ago when I dropped my ten-year-old daughter off at camp for the very first time, I was beside mysel£ "What a dive," I thought. "Where are the state of the art facilities, the archery range, the swimming pool? There's nothing here." Now I am so profoundly grateful for that nothing, for out ofit everything has grown. Ellie (dvr~ht-er) I grew up in the belly of a city, sur rounded by red brick buildings and block parties, parades and protests, race riots and pirate radios, cheese pupusas and cooking sabbaticals from life in the wild obviously tense and out of place, gradual street poetry. All these flavors definitely and crazy fast lane) I watched Shiloh ly relaxing into himself until one night he widened my experience, opened my mind become the same touchstone for my boys donned a sarong and beads and, while to difference, yet also created a protective as it had been for my daughter. On the others drummed and sang, he danced his cocoon around my soul that was only tru cusp of their inchoate manhoods, camp heart out onto his sleeves, spinning and ly awakened when I went to the moun offered a counter to the parodies of mas shimmying and commanding the floor. tains and began to inhabit Quakerism. culinity our media-driven society offers. I observed my son's friend waxing from Nowadays, young people from both Here men are not violent but strong, not a "hard-ass wannabe" back into the gig urban and rural backgrounds are im hypersexual but sensual, not tight but ten gling oh-so-grounded soul he has always mersed in a barrage of images and stimu der-hearted. My 14-year-old graduated been at his core. I saw young people lants, stunting our own creative growth. last year, hard-muscled after canoeing for acquire the heft of maturity and older As the Internet connects us to Tokyo in an hours at a stretch and hiking a hundred ones shrug it off; I saw teenage girls leave instant from our own mobile phones, one miles, and tougher still for enduring the their makeup behind in the washroom might argue we are advancing, our world assaults of one mean and angry bee. Yet at and trust to the beauty they felt inside. pushing through cyber horiwns. Yet this his candlelight ceremony where he bade And I saw the juggernaut of adolescent excess of information can also bloat our farewell to the young men and women energy meet the silence of the forest- and who had mentored him through these waddya know the two. can and do mesh, Continued on page 40 most precious of years, his adolescent countenance melted into the androgy nous angelic calm that has always been his. And the tears fell freely. Whose I do not know; I was not there to see them. I kept my distance, but I knew they surely had. I have also observed my habitual parental hypervigilance softening dur ing those weeks, enabling me to more fully take in the lives of others. This was in large part a credit to the heroic efforts of the counselors who take on those children as if they were their own. We cooks were privileged to see this firsthand, to find them crashed out on the sofas of the rest house on their off days, brainstorming trips and activ ities for their campers in their lean-to of an office-generally working them selves into a frenzy of creativity, devo tion, and infectious joy. I observed too the chubby boy who arrived feeling so
FRIENDS jOURNAL january 2008 21 E.Kplot£;0J fk rr Fire ~ fk Certt-er, byTasha Walsh altimore Yearly Meeting has a large one First Day, and curiosity became con voice within. We taught them mindful youth population, and for many viction when, sitting in silence in the back ness exercises, hoping they would experi &within the yearly meeting, its of the room, it dawned on us that meet ence the peace that worship brings and at camping program has been an instru ing was a natural place for us to connect the very least be quiet for 20 minutes. We ·mental support for children becoming and nurture the spiritual side of our fam struggled in helping our children under Quaker adults, and adults strengthening ily life. Our desire, at the time, was to fmd ·stand what it means to be Quaker. Since their experience as Quakers. As a parent, a place where we grownups could feel we came to meeting as adults, we had no I see that the camping program has pro spiritually at home, as well as a place that experience or memory ofwhat it means to vided our children with experiences in liv would help us raise our children with the be a Quaker child. We did not have a ing Quaker testimonies, which has increased awareness, depth, and connec foundation from which to communicate strengthened our family as well. tion to life that we so value. what Friends believe in a way appropriate My three children are now 12, 14, and Our lifestyle is similar to many Friends to the understanding and thought proc 17 years old. Our family started attending families. My husband and I both work esses of young children. Maury River Meeting in Lexington, Va., outside the home. Our children go to It wasn't until our oldest son, Dylan, when my youngest daughter was three. public school. We've arranged our sched turned ten and went to camp that we My husband and I had increasingly ules so that one of us can be home when found the missing piece. He was at Camp crossed paths with Quakers and discov the kids get out of school. We go to peace Shiloh, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of ered a growing resonance with Quaker rallies, encourage volunteerism, and par Virginia, for two weeks and returned a ideals and beliefs. Our curiosity grew ticipate in community service activities as different kid-a Quaker kid. Since then when we realized a large number of our a family while striving -to live simply in he has gone back every year, and our · friends attended meeting. We finally our consumer-driven society. younger two each started going at the age made the trip out to the meetinghouse When our kids were young, they of nine. The BYM Camping Program attended First-day school and enjoyed the has become the centerpiece of our chil stories, sharing, and activities. As they dren's spiritual development. It has Tasha Walsh is a member ofMaury River Meet ing in Lexington, 'Ita. A practitioner in the grew they complained about meeting for taught them Quakerism, as George Fox human services field, she is the president ofPoint worship being "boring" and sometimes said, "experimentally." Fonuard, Inc., which "exists to help individuals voiced feeling different from some oftheir Camps for young people have been a and organizations reach a place of baumce and friends at school. We labored to help them part of Baltimore Yearly Meeting since sustainable success. " understand the idea of listening to that 1922. Over the years, the Camping Pro-
22 january 2 008 FRIENDS JOURNAL gram has attracted a growing number of wrote for BYM, he described what hap One of my kids' favorite activities at youths. BYM responded to the increase pened when centering around the camp camp is "Thank-you Circle." This is a spe- in demand by expanding its programs. fire: "People sitting in a circle around a cial campfire where everyone has the op Today, the BYM Camping Program flame form a powerful living metaphor portunity to express gratitude about includes camps for youth ages 9 to 14 at for an individual looking inward toward something that happened on their off-site three locations in Maryland and Virginia, the Light. People can hardly resist sitting trips. These can be specific thanks to and a Teen Adventure camp for 15- and around fire. ... Children will come to look another person, or a general expression of 16-year-olds. forward to a circle around fire the way gratefulness. It's an opportunity for kids Quaker testimonies aren't just taught adults look forward to meeting for wor to learn to appreciate the simple things. at camp, they are lived on a young person's ship. In fact, for the young people, it will My son Bryan's favorite memory (of his level. Camp is a simple place. There is become a form of meeting for worship." life, he says) comes from one of these trips running water (bathhouses, showers, full One of the members of Camping Pro and was expressed at Thank-you Circle. kitchens, etc.), but there are no comput gram Committee and longtime volunteer His group had been on a rainy three-day ers or electronic entertainment. T he coun at the camps, Tom H orne, describes camp backpacking trip on the Appalachian selors model and the campers experience as "outdoor' religious education . . .. Some Trail. They were hiking to a parking lot the pure fun of simple play. They chal of the things the kids say at the fire circles where the bus was going to meet them to lenge themselves as they experience con blow me away. It's as if they're not over bring them back to camp. As Bryan nection with nature on off-site backpack shadowed by a sea of fearsome adults." describes it, "We came out of the forest, ing and canoeing trips. They and there in front of us we saw learn to live lightly on the Earth. sunlight for the first time in They sing the "George Fox days. It was a beam ofsunligh t ~ Song" along with many other shining through the trees, and ~ songs. They experience worship below it was a wonderful ~ ~ and explore their connection to sight: a pon-a-potty." ~ the God Within. And, like My daughter, Brenna, once ·~ George Fox, they learn that they said about camp, "My favorite (5 can go through the darkness and thing is all the friendly people ::s;. come to the Light. there who accept you for who S::: In the 1960s, Barry Morley you are. You can totally be ~ became the camp director and yourself and you are accept- ~ helped fan the flame that extend ed." This loving suppon and S ed the light out from the Camp respect is evident to others as ~ ing Program. In the pamphlet well. A maintenance volun- ~ "Fire at the Center," which he teer, Devan Malore, observed ~
FRIENDS j OURNAL january 2008 23 that "for kids who may feel alienated in ated for an experience of being part of their communities, the camp experience something greater than oneself is a place for them to meet each other with At our family hearth, the camp prac the possibility of becoming part of the tices flow over in subtle and not so subtle continuation of the Quaker experience in ways. Our kids get mad at each other like whatever new form it grows into." He all siblings, but they generally treat each described his impression of camp as "a other with respect. When things get real simple camp, offering an opportunity for ly tough, we have conversations about kids to develop more complex emotional how they've seen things handled at camp, and spiritual connections." or we'll sit in silence and allow them time Three years ago I spent my first week to Listen to that inner voice. I've watched at Camp Shiloh as a volunteer cook. I was all three of my children work through able to experience the magic of camp for intense emotional struggles with a level of myself As a mental health professional, integrity that we have tried to model at I'm accustomed to maintaining a certain home, but I know it has been reinforced sense of detachment, and was prepared to by their experiences at camp. . take this attitude to camp. In fact, my Another way camp has lighted our boys were at first a bit shocked and dis family hearth is by giving the kids a com WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. mayed that I was going to enter their spe mon experience and culture that is special cial world. I reassured them that I was just to them. It has given them an identity as PEACEFUL PREVENTION IS. going to cook, I would pretend they were a sibling group that I wish I'd had with my just any of the other kids and I would not siblings. They will often refer to some Free "Peaceful Prevention" embarrass them. While there, I couldn't game or phrase totally fo reign to my hus booklet or "War Is Not the help but be pulled into the circle. I was band and me, but they immediately know Answer" bumper sticker honored to witness the interactions of the what the others are talking about. One of See www.fcnl.org staff, counselors, and campers and the the funniest examples of something or call l-800-630-1330 community that was created. Conflict they've brought home is the Nose Game. was handled peacefully with respect fo r all This is played when something needs to involved. Equality was demonstrated as be done by one or two people. Anyone Friends Committee counselors and campers from all age can call "nose game" and then the last one on National Legislation groups worked together to get chores or two people to touch their noses are the done with joy. A deep sense of acceptance ones to do the job. Now at our house, for each other was evident. And the com when I ask if someone can take out the munity created there allowed room for trash, I hear "nose game" and one of my my children and me to share a different kids comes in laughing to do the task type of interaction. The metaphor of fire and hearth res I see the benefits of camp every sum onates strongly with me as a Quaker. mer when I drop my kids off and pick Indeed, some of the first meetings for We manage Investment Portfolios them up weeks later. They have each worship took place around the hearth of from a socially responsible perspective matured in their own way while at camp Margaret Fell's household, as she held the Financial Advisory and return home a bit deeper, a little more space for the growing Religious Society of Socially Responsible Investment aware of who they are and how to express Friends. As a parent, part of my role is to Portfolios that perform themselves. We started out wanting to tend to the light in the hearth ofour fam Custodians: Charles Schwab find a way to help our kids learn to be ily, and to teach my children to tend it as Bear Stearns Sec. Inc. Quakers. We thought that's what camp well. As Quakers, raising our children (410) 745-3550 was providing, but what we got was a way involves setting the stage to allow them to be a family. We saw how important it to grow and experience that of God in www.nethompson.com was to create a space, light the fire, and themselves and in others, giving them [email protected] give permission to be oneself We saw how room to practice the Quaker testimonies, the heart of community extended from and permitting them to learn experimen this, and we experience it increasing in tally how to live in their world. The our family. majority of our work as parents is to cre CREMATION A family hearth provides a similar ate and hold that space, allowing for Friends are reminded that the Anna T. Jeanes Fund image as the campfire, and to us a well breakthroughs to happen while support will reimburse cremation costs. tended hearth is a symbol ofa strong fam ing our children as they make these dis (Applicable to members of ily. In simpler times, the hearth was the coveries for themselves. Camp has trans Philadelphia Yearly Meeting only.) heart of the home. When there is light in formed our family by tending that fire at For information, write DORIS CLINKSCALE the hearth, there is warmth, nourishment, the center that helps us all recognize the 414 Foulkeways and opportunities for heartfelt sharing "Light that is the Light of the world" in Gwynedd, PA 19436 and quietly being together. A space is ere- ourselves and in each other. 0
24 january 2008 FRIENDS jOURNAL • ANALYSIS
tiatives, negotiations with Iraq's warring fac The 11 Oth U.S. Congress tions, and troop withdrawals. Committees are also addressing Africa by Nancy Milio issues, ranging from genocide in Darfur to AIDS. In regard to the latter, Uganda, the e current Congress is giving more vis will be better informed, and the proposals will poster child for the Administration's absti bility, in-depth exploration, and over signal the direction of public policy when, nence education program, is showing ight to some Quaker goals as stated with continuous work by those who care, a Ti a reversal from its former decline in in FCNG legislative priorities for the 11 Oth more progressive White House and Congress HIV/AIDS. A House Bill would stop the pol U. S. Congress. These cover: peace-building lead the nation. icy requiring a third of international AIDS and resolution of deadly conflict, including Peace-Building & War Resolution prevention funds to go to abstinence-only ending military involvement in Iraq and education-but, according to the New York diplomacy with Iran; restoration of civil liber In addition to the ongoing political con frontation over Iraq, both chambers of Con Times, this contentious measure was bar ties and human rights; social and economic gress are closely monitoring Administration gained away for this year. equity in health care, education, housing, relations with Iran, especially any pretexts for Among the dozen appropriations bills and jobs; and promoting sustainable energy going to the President-some threatened with and environments. aggressive action, as well as its approach to nuclear nonproliferation in North Korea, a veto--funds were added to programs long The Congressional leadership, generally . Russia, and Iran. T hese are issues of intense advocated, and in a few instances partly craft more open this year to many Quaker concerns Quaker interest, reflected in recent high-level ed, by FCNL. As leading lobby for nuclear than before, faces the challenge of having only nonproliferation, FCNL and its parmers suc a narrow majority, the threat of Presidential meetings in Iran by an AFSC-Mennonite-led delegation, and ongoing FCNL follow up in ceeded in getting very large increases in the vetoes, and a White House that insists on global threat reduction initiative (mainly for claiming executive privilege in the face of Congress and the State Department. Despite frustration of majority attempts to work with Russia), the international nuclear requests for information. This produces delays materials protection program, and the inter- and compromises. Nevertheless, bills are change course in Iraq, small steps were taken in the first months of this Congress. Long national nuclear fuel bank. . being debated and frequently result in pro sought by FCNL, a recent House resolution In a less favorable move, the Administration gressive movement. Whether or not these acts forbidding permanent bases in Iraq was concluded a treaty with India that rewarded it become law during this Congress, the public passed by an overwhelming majority. In addi with nuclear technology and enriched fuel Nancy Milio is emeritus proftssor ofHealth Pol tion, the Iraq Study Group Implementation while only getting it to agree to international icy at University ofNorth Carolina and a mem Act passed, which sets out a framework for the inspections of its nonmilitary nuclear facilities ber ofChape l Hill (N C) Meeting. . U.S. to make serious regional diplomacy ini- and not getting it to sign the Nuclear Non-
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FRIENDS JoURNAL january 2 008 25 Proliferation Treacy. The Senate majority will Quaker Studies challenge this contentious decision. Other new budget monies went for a Reconstruction and Stabilization Office to Scholarships P dl H. coordinate State Department programs, to the U.S. Agency for International Development, . at en e 111 and to the Pentagon to help countries recover from conflict situations. According to FCNL, The Henry J. Cadbury Scholarship is available for three terms to a Funds have also been added for in~ernational Quaker scholar with serious interest in Quaker faith, practice, or history, peacekeeping, de-mining, small arms destruc and who offers a specific research tion, and peacekeeping in Darfur. proposal when applying. Civil Liberties & Human Rights Several pending court cases could become The Kenneth L. CarTOII Scholarship landmarks in the evolution ofU. S. democra allows Quakers to concentrate on cy. Having asserted that National Security Administration wiretapping complied with Biblical and Quaker studies to benefit the law, the Justice Department argued in their local meetings. court that cases being brought against the program should be dropped. The plain Applications for both scholarships riffs, including the American Civil Liberties are due March 15, 2008. Union, held that because the government refused to proscribe future warrantless wire taps, the trials should proceed. To find out more, contact In other cases brought under habeas cor PENDLE HILL Darlene Walker: pus by Guancanamo detainees, Justice argued A QUAKER CENTER FOR STUDY AN D CONTEMPLATION 800.742.3150 (US only) exl161 the suits were moor under the new Military 338 Plush Mill Road ·Wallingford, PA 19086 610.566.4507 ext.161 Commissions Act, which stripped civilian www.pendlehill.org [email protected] courts from hearing challenges to detention from prisoners. It also claimed that since the 9/11 attacks, the entire U.S. is a battleground, so the Commander-in-Chief can exercise his power accordingly. Plaintiffs held that habeas A Vibrant City. court-stripping was unconstitutional, accord ing ro the Brennan Law Center. These cases A Close Community. were reaching the Supreme Court by Septem A Culture of Learning. ber 2007, and you can find our more at
january 2 008 FRIENDS JOURNAL The House Education and Labor Com Personalized Care in the mittee is also addressing working people's con Quaker Tradition cerns, like requiring employers to respect workers' choice to unionize when a majority sign authorization cards-but the measure Since 1896 was blocked under threat of a veto. A Quiet, Environmental Protection A breakthrough Supreme Court ruling Home-Like Setting in a confirmed environmentalists' claim that the Beautifully Landscaped Environmental Protection Agency has author ity to regulate greenhouse gases, including car Atmosphere bon dioxide, contrary to Administration asser tions. Congressional environment commit tees heard a range of global warming-related • Private Rooms, Suites and • Recreational Activities proposals to cap greenhouse gases, mandate Apartments emission reductions, and provide incentives • 24 Hour Security for development of energy efficiencies and • Assistance with Activities of Daily • Some Financial alternative fuels, according to Physicians for Living Social Responsibility. According to FCNL, Assistance Available the resulting compromise may over-fund • Emergency Response System ethanol production, placing pressure on world food prices for poor countries and straining • Three Nutritious, Home-Cooked For information please U.S. farmland and water supplies. Meals Served Daily in Elegant call 856-235-4884 Federal regulatory agencies set up to pro Surroundings tect health, safety, and the environment have 28 Main Street, received little scrutiny in recent years. The • Linen and Housekeeping Services Moorestown, NJ 08057 House Oversight Committee has been demanding public accountability. For exam ple, it investigated the FDNs monitoring of direct-to-consumer drug advertising for need ed controls and FDNs post-marketing with drawal of damaging drugs. The FDA has failed to institute changes advised by the national Institute of Medicine, according to the Government Accountability Office. New Each Life ~ legislation will require and fund reforms. The Committee also heard testimony on SpeaRs · the alleged political threats to science in shap ing policy on the environment, water, worker safety, and health through pushing non science-based report revisions and withhold ing of full information from policymakers and the public, according to Physicians for Social Responsibility. Legislation that supports Quaker priorities is taking shape. Even if it reaches the Presi dent's desk only to be vetoed, the public dis cussion will nonetheless move the agenda for ward. Hearings, investigations, and new pro posals have changed the terms of debate on the Iraq war, civil liberties, social justice, and climate change. This at a minimum promotes public awareness of issues and viewpoints, and can re-ignite and give meaning to "democra Oakwood Friends School, guided by Quaker cy," the antidote to dangerous concentrations principles, educates and strengthens young of power. OAKWOOD people for lives of conscience, compassion ~F R I E N DS SCHOOL Yet, the gains cannot survive political pres and accomplishment. Discover Oakwood ... sure unless policymakers are continuously and find your own voice. 22 Spackenkill Road, Poughkeepsie, NY pressed and buoyed by the informed voices of www.oakwoodfriends.org those who care about peace, equity, and our common habitat, not least individual Quakers, COLLEGE PREPARATORY PROGRAM • QUAKERVALUES • GRADES 6·12 • BOARDING & DAY • COEDU CATIONAL their meetings, churches, and organizations. 0 FRIENDS ]OURNALjanuary 2008 27 Keep your copies for reading , reflection, and • WITNESS referral. FRIENDS JouRNAL is a major Share the ideas forum for Quaker thought and Quaker life in Walk Tall: the 21st Century. It's a helpful reference for Keep the copy conversation and contemplation. Don't wait. Spoken Ministry Subscribe today to the journal that tells you Subscribe now Among Friends what Quakers are thinking and saying. by Dwight L. Wilson came our of the grocery store carrying a 0 I'll take 12 monthly issues for $39, please. 0 Lock in my rate for 2 small bag and almost immediately spoke in years-24 issues-for just $76. Overseas subscribers please add $12 per ! meeting. There, nor 50 feet from the entry, was my car, passenger's side back window year for postage. smashed and inside a young man frantically trying ro remove the anti-theft lock on the 0 Check enclosed 0 Please bill me 0 Charge my MasterCard or VJ.sa steering wheel. "What are you doing?" I CardNumber ______Expirawndate ____ offered as vocal ministry. Hastily he jumped out of my car and dove into the passenger's side of a waiting guard car that looked exact Na~: ------ly like mine. They sped away, and I was lefr ro pick up the pieces of the violation. Aad~: ------Although I now refer ro my words as vocal ministry, the designation did nor occur to me Cio/6~tei~P ------ until the following weekend when I mer in retreat with other members of Ann Arbor For fastest service, log on to Dwight L. Wilson is a member ofAnn Arbor (Mich.} Meeting, the headmaster of Friends School in Detroit, and a former general secretary ofFriends General Conference. january 2008 FRIENDS jOURNAL QUAKERS IN PASTORAL CARE AND COUNSEUNG president of the United States. As well, it should be concise and framed in silence, per haps rough-edged, or even sharp, but never GriefBroadly Painted mean-spirited. Many of us despise "popcorn meetings," * FRIENDS jOURNAL january 2008 31 • BOOKS Resident Life ·Its not like home, it is home ... Why War is Never a Good Idea By Alice Walker. Illustrations by Stefano Vitale. Harper Collins, 2007. 32 pages. $16.99/hardcover. Though War speaks They do not see War Every language Huge tires It never knows Ofa What to say Carrwujlaged To ftog.r, Vehicle ... at the most affordable rates About to Picture ftog.r Squash A Quaker Sponsored Retirement Community Besitle a pond Them flat 6300 Greene Street • Philadelphia, PA 19144-2596 Holding their annual Pre-rainy-season 215-844-0700 Convention www.stapeley.org Thus begins Alice Walker's lushly illustrat ed new poem about the senselessness of war. Though marketed as a children's picture book, Why War is Never a Good Idea ser-ves well as a Inside each child: wonder "coffee table" book suitable for adults of all ages, roo. We suggest Why War is Never a Good Idea as required reading. The message is clear; it does nor matter who or where you are, war can bring death and destruction. War is creat ed as its own entity, separate from those who wage it. War is ugly. The fabulous illustrations bear this our in many different settings. Alice Walker won the Pulitzer prize for The Color Purple, and her work for children includes There !sA Flower at the Ttp ofMy Nose Smelling Me, Finding the Green Stone, and a biography of Langston H ughes. Stefano Vitale lives in Venice, Italy. He has illustrated a number of children$ books includ OPEN HOUSE INVITATION ing ALA notable book, When the Wind Stops by C harlotte Zolorow. Saturday, January 12- 10:00 a.m. • Monday, F ebruary 18 - 9:00a.m. -Tom and Sandy Farley Monday, April 21 - 9:00 a.m. Tom and Sandy Farley are members ofPalo Alto (Calif) Meeting. WESTTOWN SCHOOL How the Quakers Invented America By David Yount. Rowman and Littlefield spirited Quaker educatit:m since 1799 Publishers, Inc., 2007. 176pages. Westtown School pre.K-8 day I 9- 10 day & boarding / 11 -12 boarding $19.95/hardcover. Westtown, Pennsylvania 19395 610-399-7900 www.westtown.edu How the Q,takers Invented America reflects something about the spirit of Quakerism that 32 january 2008 FRIENDS j OURNAL is insightfUl and delightfUl to read, while get ring the details wrong to an appalling extent. I am troubled ro realize that it is more likely than most Friends publications to show up at our local Borders or Barnes and Noble, as Announcing a new website author David Yount, a member of Alexandria www.fgcquaker.orglao (Va.) Friends Meeting, has considerable name recognition in the wider world as a religious frorn FGC's commentator. Advancement &: Outreach The book's Committee grab for atten Spiritual Grounding tion, summarized Discussion Tools in the first chap ~elVcorners'~eed! ter, is its claim Raising Visibility that Quakers can Small Meetings and Worship take credit for Groups broad aspects of ••• and more American culture ranging from the nuclear fiunily to social informali ty. {It somehow omits the "one price system," usually on our top five of such boasts.) This is not the work of a historian. Yount's statements are ofi:en sweeping and undocumented. I suspect there is some meas ure of truth in a number of them, but frequent misrepresentations of fact undermine the credibility of the author's voice. Errors that I could recognize popped up by the dozens such as the statement that Mary Oyer was America's first martyr for religious freedom or a misquotation of the "Simple Gifi:s" lyrics. "Sometimes I feel as if we T he List is extensive. I hate to imagine what a real historian would make of it. have our own life-time In rwo locations, David Yount refers to himself as a journalist. I don't buy it. Journal learning establishment:· ists check faets. (And shame on the publisher -A Foxdale Resident for not requiring him to do so!) Also ques tionable is the bibliography- alas, there are Opportunities for growth abound at Foxdale Village, no reference notes. I am also going to restrain a community where each resident is encouraged to live myself on the subject of grand and unwar fully and compassionately, with respect and care for ranted generalizations. each other. Three levels of care contribute to a graceful But all of these complaints do not add up life at Foxdale: residential living in ground-floor garden to a recommendation that Friends should apartments, assisted living, and skilled nursing. boycott the whole book. Instead, I advise any one who elects to read it to bypass the fi:ont • Front-door public transportation to theatres, and back matter and skip the first chapter. museums, sporting events, and shopping chapter one is merely the flashy wrapping • Cultural and educationalg paper, and it comes off easily. What is lefi:, opportunities at nearby · Foxdale afi:er the mercifully brief lead-in on how Penn State's campus Friends influenced America, is an interest Vi IJ ing-though debatable-discussion of our • Reasonable fees include J I age religion, including such issues as Quakers and lifetime medical care A Quaker-Directed Contit1uing the Bible and the meaning of eternal Life. I and pharmacy Care Retirement Community read Chapters rwo to rwelve with skepticism It is the policy of Foxdale ViUage to be fuUy inclusive ,. ....,~ about any statement of fact or interpretation and not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, ~ • of history, but setting aside the problem of national origin, familial status, ancestry, gender, ~""'·"''"' .. sexual orientation, religion, handicap, or disability. accuracy, there was much good material for an exploration among Friends of who we are and SOO East :\1aql)n :\\enue • State College. PA 16801 • www.fm:dale,·illage.org how we understand ourselves today. I would like to see much more discussion about one For more information call (814) 238-3322 or (800) 253-4951 FRIENDS JOURNAL january 2008 33 hese are difficult times in • T publishing, especially for daringly broached topic-what does it take to small non-profits. At FRIENDS be a "good Quaker"? Help secure • Sometimes Yount seems to forget that his JouRNAL, income from purported topic is Quakerism as he drifts into the future of • subscriptions and advertising peripheral areas. For example, a chapter on revenue covers only 52 percent of Jesus 40 days in the desert and Thoreau's Walden retreat consists mosdy of a thoughtful • what it costs to produce the essay on growing older. It was one of my FRIENDS magazine. You can play a favorite sections of the book, although I nev • significant role in assuring the er did figure out what it was doing there. JOURNAL • future of FRIENDS JouRNAL- and I frequently wondered, as I read, what Yount's intentions were in writing this manu our goal of building readership script. Is he telling about Friends, speaking for • among Friends of all ages- by Friends, or communicating to Friends? I was contributing a planned gift that fits inclined to suspect at least some of the latter. Much of what he discusses covers areas where your needs. Such a gift allows even FRIENDS 1=1 Friends are inconsistent or vague in how we JOURNAL those of modest means to contribute describe ourselves, and putting forward his a significantly to the ministry of the own definition may be one way the author written word found in FRIENDS can nudge us into places where he feels we ought to be. Whether he has done so inten JouRNAL, because such a gift can tionally or not, Yount has provided an inter provide lifetime income and .,,··l':.uuH..cUllf pretation ofQuakerism today that seems to be tax benefits for the donor. something of a mixture between who we real ly are and who he thinks we ought to be. To some degree, such a mixture is inevitable in For 52 years, the written words of any individual effort to describe Friends, and' Friends have informed, enriched, and experienced Quaker readers should have no nurtured our Quaker community. difficulty deciding which parts are wheat and which chaff, according to their own under Your contribution to this ministry is standings. I am concerned, however, that critically important as it helps us to readers new to Quakerism will be misled by ensure a lasting, vital connection this book's tone ofauthority into thinking that it contains a description of Quakerism that all among Friends. And your gili- as Friends could accept. simple as a line in your will-provides Yount is a fine writer. The book is a pleas a legacy that can help sustain the ant, interesting, and meaningful read. It has publication of Quaker thought for the added advantage of being short. I just warn you to read it as something to think about and decades to come. Gifts can be funded discuss with other Friends, not necessarily as with cash, stock or other property. something to be informed by or to believe. -ChelAvery Chel Avery is a member ofGoshen (Pa.)Meeting Want to know more? and is the director ofQuaker Information Cen ter in Philadelphia. Please contact our development staff at: Practicing Peace: A 1216 Arch Street, 2A Devotional Walk Through Philadelphia, PA 19107 the Quaker Tradition [email protected] By Catherine Whitmire. Sorin Books, 2007. (8oo) 471-6863 272 pages. $15.95/paperback. Catherine Whitmire lays out her vision in the first lines of this book's introduction: "Quakers have been practicing peace as a spir FRIENDS itual discipline since the 1650s. Their well worn path to peace begins in prayer and wor ship, leads to recognizing God in all people, JOURNAL includes practicing nonviolence, and epdeav ors to make love the guiding force in all they 34 january 2008 FRIENDS j OURNAL The oldest Quaker school in the world, do.... While practicing peace is not always easy, William Penn Charter School embraces it is a spiritual discipline that expands love, tradition and welcomes innovation. The critical balance between generates hope, and satisfies our soul's deepest longing for peace." Practicing Peace collects academic rigor andjoy in learning hundreds of relatively brief aphorisms, anec Essential Quaker principles and practice dotes, stories, and quotations from dozens of guide Penn Charter, a Friends school Friends, usually framed by some of the by birthright and conviction. Within a author's own experiences as a peacemaker and diverse community, we engage srudents Upcoming Open Houses: peace activist, which she hopes will aid those in a stimulating and rigorous educational January ~6, ~oo8 who share her commitments. Catherine program. We foster academic discipline and Whitmire organizes the work in six categories, inteUecrual curiosity to prepare graduates April1~,~oo8 including "Practicing Peace in Our Everyday for higher education and for life. Lives" and "Practicing Peace in the World." 3000 West School House Lane, Philadelphia The biographies of her primary authors are ABINGTON FRIENDS SCHOOL useful, and, for those new to Quakerism, there 215.844.3460 A coeducational Quaker school is a helpful glossary of Quaker terms. www.penncharter.com from preschool through grade 12 Those who seek new insight into the his tory or intellectual implications of the Peace 575Washington Lane, Jenkintown, PA19046 Testimony will not find it here. The author ~ 215-886- 4350 did not intend to produce a work of cutting williamPenn edge scholarship, and it would be wrong to Cliarter fault her for not doing so. Her vision of"prac School ticing peace as a spiritual discipline" is provocative, in part because few Friends Photographing people before the 20th century would have been places, objects, and events familiar with that term, or, ifthey were, would (also dancers and fish) have associated it with Roman Catholic prac tices that they eschewed. But relatively few Friends Arthur Fink Photography Friends today would find it uncomfortable. [email protected] More unsettling for this reader was Catherine Music Camp Whitmire's rendering of gender-inclusive lan At Olney Friends School guage. This makes sense when Friends in the Plymouth Meeting Friends School past used words such as "mankind" intended July 6 - August 3 ·Ages 10-18 to embrace all of humanity. But rendering "Kingdom of God" as "Commonwealth of God," a decision Whitmire points out in her introduction, involves not just using inclusive language, but changing theological concep tions. When Friends from George Fox to Rufus Jones spoke of "the Kingdom," they Pre-K through 6th Grade really did envision a monarchy rather than a Admissions Open Houses: democracy or republic, albeit one ruled over Oct. I I, Nov. 3, Jan. 23, April I 0 by a God of absolute love and justice, but still, a God who was ruler. 2150 Buffer Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 That is a small fault. Friends of all outlooks (610) 828-2288 • www.pmfs1780.org will find much here to help them on their spir Musical Growth • Caring Coimnunity itual journeys. - Thomas D. Hamm Scholarships Available The Bible Association of Friends in America Thomas D. Hamm is archivist and professor of (937) 767-1311 since 1829 has offered Bibles, NewTes taments, history at Earlham College and a member of www.friendsmusiccamp.org and Portions free or at cost ro Friends First Friends Meeting, New Castle, Ind. His institutions, individuals, and others worldwide. most recent book is The Quakers in America musicjmc@yahoo. com Write to: P.O. Box 3, Riverton, NJ 08077 (2003). FRIENDS ]OURNALjanuary 2008 35 • NEWS LEARNING The conscientious objection to military tax ation case of Daniel Taylor Jenkins was denied a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court DlFFERENT on October 1, 2007. His petition was one of several hundred that were submined during I the summer months of 2007. Of these, only IS 17 were ~osen for review. A comprehensive OFTEN amicus brief was submined by New York Yearly Meeting in support of the Jenkins petition, This document contains historical BETTER. material that many Friends may not have seen before. Both documents are available For Students with Learning Differences on the Web at: The Plowshares Peace Study Collaborative of Earlham, Goshen, and Manchester colleges befaithful has launched its own online scholarly journal to foster discussion of issues of religion, Looking for a ethics, and violence. The journal ofReligion , Conflict, and Peace will be published twice a Christian college? year, and is available online without subscrip tion so that anyone can read and distribute the EMU is a Christian college articles. It includes articles and book reviews by scholars from a variety of academic back where you will consider what grotmds, as well as a "Letters to the Editor" it means to be a follower of section designed to encourage readers to respond and discuss the articles. According to Jesus in every aspect of life. thejourna4 "While [its] fi rst audience is schol ars, its aim is to be relevant and accessible to peace practitioners and anyone else concerned about these themes." It is shaped by the ideals of major peace churches (including the Reli gious Society of Friends), bur its articles are not resuicted to a particular faith: the first batch of articles discusses everything from broader concerns ofpeace to the current West ern association of"Holy War" with Islam. The journal is available at Correction: The "Durham (N.C.) Meeting" mentioned in "State of Society Reports for 2006" (Fj Nov.) should have read "Durham (Maine) Meeti ng." january 2008 FRIENDS JOURNAL .,., • BULLETIN BOARD \, ..;;: NurtJfe the Future rr.;:.3 Upcoming Events: of Q~4kerism Wl!l •Through March 15-Arch Srreet Meeting house in Philadelphia, Pa., is hosting an Remember FGC In Your Will ,{"" exhibit called "American Friendship, Herbert . I .J Hoover and Poland." T he exhibits presen ts Friends General Conference over 150 photos, documents, maps, and some nurtures a vibrant future for never-publish~d material on Q uaker President Quakerism by providing Hoover's monumental humanitarian under spiritual and practical taking of saving millions of people from star resources for individuals, vation and helping Poland maintain nation meetings, and the Religious hood between the world wars. This exhibit Society of Friends as a whole. comes to Philadelphia from Stanford Univer by sity afrer an emotion-filled tour of five cities You c::an help remembering FGC in your wilL in Poland. Opportunities: •June 17-21-UN International C hildren's Environmental Conference in Sravenger, Norway, for children aged 10- 14 who are interested and involved in environmental projects and who are concerned about climate *All graduates accepted to college change and wildlife issues. Since 1995 the *Self-directed, lifelong learning United Nations Environmental Program *3: 1 student-to-teacher ratio (UNEP) has organized conferences that bring together young people from around the world to discuss and learn about environmental issues. For applications visit FRIENDS ] OURNAL january 2008 37 Separation of Church and State GuideOne Insurance is America's leading insur continued from page I 0 er of religious institutions, and has been pro not view harmony as a reasonable goal tecting Friends houses of worship and schools where religions are concerned. It seems to for more than 20 years. In fact, since 1979, me that our best hope for combining GuideOne has been the Friends Insurance democracy with religious diversity lies in Group property and casualty insurer of choice. the Constitution's First Amendment. To arrange for a FREE premium quotation, and "Values evangelicals" feel excluded from explicitly religious participation in politics to learn more about GuideOne Insurance, call r. . 4 and government because they are in fact 1-877-448-4331 ext. 5429. Gu1de0ne· lnsunnce excluded. They encounter the First Amendment. Weakening church-state separation will only encourage more chal lenges. Such are expected to continue under any circumstances, but so, too, is FRIENDS jOURNAL offers the classic book the resistance to them. Whether the sepa ration of church and state can survive remains to be seen. In the meantime BENJAMIN members of all religious groups are assured the same freedoms, including The Meetinghouse Mouse I freedom of personal expression, freedom to proselytize, and one vote each. by Benjamin, as told to Clifford Pfeil, with illustrations by John D. Gurnmere FRIENDS AND If you remember the Benjamin stories CHURCH·STATE in past issues, you will be happy to sh:l!e them SEPARATION now in book form-with your children, grandchildren, and Friends! y reference to Friends as a whole Look for Benjamin in Friends bookstores or order directly from FRIENDS j OURNAL: is not intended to obscure the considerable variation among Please send me copies of Benjamin @ $6.00 each, plus $2.00 shipping and handling M Friends, both as individuals and as ($3.50 for shipping and handling outside U.S., Canada, and Mexico). My check is enclosed. groups. Not all are theists; not all are Name ------Christians; not all are pacifists. Yet they share a remarkable history with many Admess ------overarching beliefs and practices that City Srare ZIP ------ unite them. Country, if other than U.S. ------Friends have a long history of persecu tion in England at the hands of both sec Please mail to Friends Journal, 1216 Arch Street, 2a, Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835. ular and rdigious authorities. Discrimina If any questions please call (215) 563-8629. tion and persecution followed them into several of the American colonies, leading sometimes to exile or even to public hang ings in Massachusetts. When the Pennsylvania colony, "The The Way of Ministry, a new one-year program Holy Experiment," was formed under the co-sponsored with Pendle Hill, Sept. 2008 - May 2009 guidance of William .Penn, Friends were for those called to public, gospel, or traveling ministry welcomed and expressed their religion in Interested? Come explore the new program ways that by the nature of their beliefs were at Wellesley Meeting, near Boston, Mar. 22, 2008 tolerant and respectful of others. The fact at Pendle Hill, Nurturing Faithfulness, May 23-27, 2008 that Friends do not base their beliefs on a book or other authority that can be con On Being a Spiritual Nurturer, next class begins Sept. 2009 strued as a final statement, but rather hold Contemplative Retreats, co-sponsored with Powell House, NY that pursuit of Truth entails an ongoing Jan. 18-21 and June 20-23, 2008 search and belief in continuing revelation, supports an openness to new ideas not present in many religions. Friends, for example, are not threatened by the dis A Ministry under the care of the Worship and Care Standing Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting coveries of science. Like most Christian groups they, too, january 2008 FRIENDS ]OURNAL have a wish co spread their beliefs and practices over the world. George Fox Quaker Practice wrote: "Lee all nations hear the word.... Spare no place. . . . Be obedient to the Lord God and go through the world and be valiant for the truth . .. . Be patterns, and History be examples in all countries." More chan 200 years later, Henry Hodgkin, the first director of Pendle Hill study center, Come for all of May, or choose as many events as you'd like. wrote: "The Society of Friends is called by May 2-4 May 9-11 its deepest principles, and by the lessons of its own history, co a universal mission. James Nayler and Five Spiritual It cannot fulfill its service to humanity the Lamb's War Principles unless it responds co this call." Friends with Doug Ciwyn with George Owen proselytize, seek that of God in every per son, and let their own "lives speak," gen May 5-9 May 12-16 erally in ways compatible with the First Amendment. Unlike the Puritans, Friends Re-discovering The Unifying Legacy have no wish to compel uniformity of reli Elias Hicks of Rufus Jones gious belief in society. with Paul Buckley with Stephen W. Angell Friends are notable for their public service, exemplifying how religions and May 9-11 May 23-27 government can work together to achieve shared goals. For instance, the pursuit of How Quakers Read Nurturing Faithfulness peace, prison reform, and abolition of the the Bible with Marcelle Martin, Laura death penalty are all motivated by reli with Paul Buckley and Stephen W. Angell Melly, and Beckey Phipps gious as well as·by secular values. Attempts (editors ofThe Quaker Bible Reader) by Friends to influence legislation either involve secular arguments or they concern the pursuit of religious freedom. For instance, at the behest of the peace churches after World War I, our govern ment granted conscientious objector sta tus to pacifists for whom military service would conflict with religious convictions. The quest in such instances is to achieve religious freedom for all citizens, and chat in itself is a secular value. At times the assertion of Friends' reli gious convictions, involving civil disobe dience, trespassing, destruction of mili tary property, or the withholding of taxes to avoid funding the military, have been in conflict with the law. In such instances they accept the penalty and have some times gone co jail for their religiously motivated conduct. For the most part, Friends live com patibly with the First Amendment and its church-state separation. They are protect ed thereby from religious persecution and imposition from ocher groups and are free To find out more, contact: to pursue their goals, whether motivated PENDLE HILL 800.742.3150 (US only) ext 3 A QUAKER CENTER FOR STUDY AND CONTEMPLATION 610.566.4507 ext 3 by religious or secular values. 0 338 Plush Mill Road · Wallingford, PA 19086 www.pendlehill.org [email protected] FRIENDS JOURNAL january 2008 39 Mothers and Daughters continued from page 21 minds, to the extent that we no longer have time to react and reflect upon what we are taking in. Unlike my grand mother, who still talks back to the television, we are easily stunned into being passive consumers. Like plants doused in fertilizer, we may be grow hnding C.od\ Way Forward · tn fXt.ti10n Maktng 1 ing taller and brighter, yet our soil is being stripped of its nutrients, our own ability to Practicing sprout. Thus it is crucial for Discernment Together young people to escape to the Finding God's Way Forward mountains and breathe in the in Decision Making fresh air, and roll around in by Lon Fendall, Jan Wood, some smelly compost. Starting when I was teri & Bruce Bishop • s16 .00 years old I packed my bags every summer, climb mountains, making rhymes, taking Available from your filled with costumes and creek shoes, fun our time to see the world beneath our feet, Quaker bookseller. ny hats and sleeping mats, and hit the sucking on sassafras while touching long road to the Shenandoah Valley for Shiloh blades of grass, throwing off our packs at Quaker Camp. On the journey there was the summit and prancing as if we were on always that thrilling moment where the the moon. Young people need room to . road curves and the blue ridges suddenly explore and create and take risks and be stretch into the skyline. And after a year ridiculous-where canoeing expands into of focusing on homework deadlines, pirate adventures, and hiking hitches up MJe$~ screens, and magazines, my eyes finally into fancy dress celebrations. At camp, we widened their gaze and relaxed into the can take these risks because we know we whole picture. Crossing the bridge into are safe, nurtured by nature's cycles and by r.ertif~ the campgrounds and winding up the a community where we know we always gravel path always felt like a homecoming, have a place. ~ J\{a[Y~cRman transplanted from urban potholes and The wild rumpus of our adventures is Ca[t!_qr~@J computer networks, back into the rich, balanced with the silent reflection of www.mtcalligraphy.com moist soil of Virginia. Like the kudzu meetings. Gathered in a circle, sun dap 10 Union Street, Greenfield, MA01301 vines that climb and twirl and transform pled on our cheeks and bugs crawling (413) 529 9212 E·mail: [email protected] into dream catchers and head wreaths, over our feet, wise words are sojourned, you can watch us grow. recounting stories from the trail and the In this magical space filled with wild river, from that place inside we normally cherry trees, mountain streams, and rocky guard with clenched teeth. But without gorges, young people peel off all those walls and judging calls the words stream social pressures to conform. We introduce into the universe, trees slipping them ourselves with cartwheels and perform round their necks like lockets as we listen work crew skits shaking up laughing fits and place them safely into our pockets. iWO W££~ SeSSIONS as we transform the mundane washing of The Earth's cycles of thunderstorms on JUNE THROUGH AUGUST dishes into musical escapades. We reclaim carp roofs, a drought making us collect our right co play, a word no longer buckets from the creek. The end of some SLEEPOVE~ <:AMP reserved for five-year-olds, as mealtimes thing was never the end; transitions were for Boys & Girls ages 8-13 J unfold into cook parades, treasure hunts celebrated. Kudzu became wreaths round Campers choose* their* *own * activities * and live for bay leaves, and chocolate pudding our heads, marking our graduation, our and play in a friendly. diverse community. kissed onto our cheeks. Yet these rights are growth. At 15, moving on to Teen Adven CAMP ONAS OPEN HOUSES- 2PM always balanced with responsibilities to ture, where for three weeks we were on Saturdays, February 2 or March 1 the community, as we lick our plates dean the trail, like snails we carried all that or Sunday, May 18 singing our waste into tasty treats for our we needed on our backs: three shirts, FOR INFORMATION. CALL 610-847-5858 compost heap. two shorts, a fleece, and a stack of deli 609 Geigel Hill Rd., Ottsville, PA 18942 [email protected] • www.camponas.org Our information-laden minds are cious iodized water. After ten days traips ACA Accredited Camp finally screwed back onto our bodies as we ing up and down Appalachia's spine we january 2008 FRIENDS jOURNAL EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS WITH MEDFORD LEAS • BEAUTIFUL ARBORETUM SETTING • WIDE CHOICE OF HOME DESIGNS MEDFORD LEAS • DYNAMIC COMMUNITY LIFE A nationaLLy accredited, Quaker- related, not-for-profit community for those • IDEAL LOCATIONS FOR CULTURE AND RECREATION age 55 +, with campuses in Medford • SUPERIOR HEALTH AND WELLNESS SERVICES and Lumberton, N] Some homes are available immediately. We welcome your visit - please call to arrange an appointment. FOR MORE INFORMATION: 800.331.4302 OR WWW.MEDFORDLEAS.ORG fRIENDS ] OURNALjanuary 2008 41 A fun, climbed up to the highest point of Vir Summer Camps ginia. enshrouded in clouds; we ploughed creative, trails f9r the national park; and we played challenging In Vermont tag to spark our shivering circulation. $UJl[)IJljl9' experience Although we were soaked, spooning mouthfuls of peanut butter and shots of Vltllt:.,Wlllcteme:ss trips salad dressing, our spirits kept warm, and on the farm for girls and in the morning the sun broke through. ,....,sages 4-17. Founded in 1939 For an hour we sat still and marveled at on the Quaker values the gold-dusted hills, speckled with wild horses and purple heather. Our bellies filled with that balmy feeling ofbeing part ofsomething much bigger. Sitting on that rock face I realized that as I had suipped to a simplicity of being in the world, where I was no longer defined by my pos sessions but recognized by my interac tions, I also gained the capacity to see a wider vision-a deeper beauty born out of the relationships between. I gained the ability to lead within a community of leaders and listen to the whispers and the scratchy voices of ancestors in the trees. Life lessons I absorbed and then poured back into the campground as I became a counselor, and shared the keys, and gig gled into the night, singing songs, passing on stories. I didn't know what a Quaker was until What does it mean when people say I came to camp and lived it. Quakerism cannot be explained, Active Retirement? absuacted, as it is rather a verb--a way of being and engaging with the world . . . . the residents ofFriends Home Amidst the onslaught of school pressures, and Village volunteer in the community, images of waif models and Iraqi mas garden and live independently among Friends. Sacres, it's easy for young spiritual tenta cles to wrap themselves up inside. At camp One and Two Bedroom we are replanted into an environment where our roots can unfold, and branch Garden Apartments Available. es grow and dance circles with the wind. With this firm grounding, our tentacles are set free to explore. No longer bored, trapped in a car, enraptured by movie stars, we are impelled to make relation ships with the environment and with each Affordable, other. At camp I made lifelong friend Independent and ships, discovered first loves, and gave long hugs to everyone, to my counselors and Assisted Living then to my campers. As the August in the Quaker cicadas began to lose their voices, I'd leave Tradition. with that tight feeling in my throat, but I always felt comforted that no matter how FRIENDS HOME AND VILLAGE far I drifred away, my orbit through the world would bring me back to the center, Newtown, Pennsylvania til and the adventure would begin again. 0 215.968.3346 • friendshomeandvillage.org 42 january 2008 FRIENDS j OURNAL Camp Woodbrooke continued from page 16 It's the of (j) Broadmead as&!-inclusive healthcare, maintenance-free garden apartments, and interesting friends are a way of life at Broadmead. Enjoy an abundance of resident-driven programs & activities or the serenity of the natural surroundings on this 94-acre campus. It's all up to you. We invite you to visit us and catch the Broadmead spirit. ins and hiking trails, tracked down mis Call (410) 584-3388 to schedule your personal tour. placed sweatshirts, and took last photo graphs of their child's cabin group. Campers exchanged phone numbers, e mail addresses, and hugs. Broadmead is an inclusive, accredited, not-for-profit After the final session, the board and Continuing Care Retirement Community staff breathed a sigh of relie£ T hey had and operated in the caring Quaker tradition. run three successful sessions with a total TIY/Voice " Maryland Relay Service of 66 campers. Financially, Camp Wood 1-800-201-7165 ~ brooke had finished in the black, without www.broadmead.org 1.5.r l(g;~~] using the bequest. Now it was time for the board ofdir ec tors to make another decision. If Camp Woodbrooke were to continue, major re pairs and new buildings were needed, and new campers would need to be recruited. "Lee has authored a very There was yet another challenge: the important book that examines Board would have to purchase the land from the Langs. That would take a lot many important subjects more money and years of commitment. relevant to successfully The board sat around the table in the managing a business barn. Would they continue? Once again, they relied on faith. The answer was yes. enterprise in today~ complex, difficult environment." - Daniel Bauer DBA Postscript: The challenges continue. Efforts to Dean, W Fielding Rubel School of Business purchase the property began and donations Bellarmine University. Louisville, Kentucky reached the I 0-percent mark, theoretically enough for a down payment, but banks were This book is about ethical principles in reluctant to loan money to a new organiza business, and translating those principles tion that depended on donations to survive. into ethical behavior in the workplace. The board postponed the discussion ofnext It's about how people need to form steps as the summer of2007 rolled around. peaceful partnerships so that everyone Another successfUl camping season fol comes out a winner. lowed, this time with 81 campers. Finally, in Lee B. Thomas, the fall of2007, the purchase went through, Jr. is a longtime Hardcover, 152 pages, $16.95 businessman and with persona/loans from supporters covering founding member of about halfof the purchase price and a bank Louisville Friends Order online at loan covering the remainder. These loans will Meeting, which need to be repaid. Additional inform.atWn and celebrated its 50th www.butlerbooks .com updates about Camp Woodbrooke are posted year in 2004. or call 502-897-9393 on its website, 44 january 2008 FRIENDS JOURNAL Based on a $10,000 cash gift, the chart below shows examples of how a gift annuity could also provide you or your loved ones with tax savings and a lifetime income. · For more information, check the items you would like to see and mail this card, or call our Advancement Coordinator toll free at (800) 471-6863. 0 our booklet on charitable gift planning 0 a gift annuity illustration for the 0 sample bequest language for your will birthdates below Name: AnnualAnnuity Charitable Birthdate: Age &zte Income Deduction Name: 65 6.0% $600 $3,854 70 6.5% $650 $4,198 Birthdate: 75 7.1% $710 $4,626 Address: 80 8.0% $800 $5,053 City: 85 9.5% $950 $5,368 State: Zip: 90 11.3% $1,130 $5,807 NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST-CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO 35933 PHILADELPHIA PA POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE FRIENDS JOURNAL 1216 ARCH ST STE 2A PHILADELPHIA PA 19107-9370 t•• •m.t ..... mt ... t... ll.t .... tt.t ••. tll ..... tt.t "... a plethora of religious perspectives in a series of creative, scholarly, and provocative essays." (Professor Paul Waldau, Tufts University) Subverting courses--sci representatives of nine world religions offer Hatred insights into hings of nonviolence within their tradition, The Challenge of Nonviolence how practice has len short of the ideals, and how they can in Religious Tradifions overcome the contagion atred through a return to traditional teachings on nonviolence. Developed by the Boston Research Center for the Published by Orbis Books (September 2007) ISBN 978-1-57075-747-1 paperback $20 Quaker Roots Run Deep. ince the mid-1700s Quakers have been changing seasons with temperate winters, and moving to North Carolina. Before you make a stimulating quality of life in an active Quaker Sa retirement decision, plan to visit community. The area is home to several Greensboro, North Carolina and find out why Quaker meetings as well as one of the so many Quakers have settled here. You will nation's most well respected Quaker institutions, find Friends Homes, Inc. owns and manages Guilford College. Call (336) 292-9952 two outstanding continuing care retirement for more information or to arrange a visit to communities. You will enjoy the beauty of four Friends Homes. FRIENDS HOMES, INC. Providing Retirement options since 1968 EQUAL HOUSING www.friendshomes.org OPPORTUNITY FRIENDS ]ouruw.January 2oo8 45 ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE WITH A CONSCIENCE vania. She worked as a Girl Scout executive in SINCE 1845 New Hampshire and as secretary and treasurer of many businesses, including her husband's camera store. She enjoyed birding with him in South and Central America and Europe. A member ofWright stown (Pa.) Meeting, she was a librarian at the VLI lage Library of Wrightstown and volunteered with many organizations. Lidiby was an accomplished, self-taught artist who won many awards for her watercolors. When she became ill and struggled with lung cancer, pneumonia, and their treatments, she became frustrated by her inability to continute to paint. She was predeceased by her sister, Char lotte Patterson. She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Alan Brady; her daughters, Susan B. Hunter and Sally Brady; her son, David Brady; her grandchildren, Aimee Brady and James Brady; and her great-grandson, Connor Brady. + Quaker, co-educational day school for Burgess-Robm Sargent Burgess, 90, on December 25, 2006, in Hanover, N.H., after struggling pre-kindergarten through grade 12 on two campuses with multiple health problems. Bob was born on + State-of-the-art science, math, and technology center October 19, 1916, in Providence, Rl., the son of + New athletic corvplex with all-weather track and indoor pooL Alexander and Abby Bullock Burgess. He received + Over70 Friends League Championships his BA from Brown University in 1938 and his MA • 23% of seniors awarded National Merit honors in Social Wdf.tre from University of Chicago in 1943. Bob was raised in a Unitarian family and converted to Quakerism in his early adulthood. He Lower School Middle/Upper School was attracted to the personal style of worship of 228 Old Gulph Road 1101 City Avenue. Friends and by the Peace Tet?timony. Bob started Wynnewood, PA 19096 Wynnewood, PA 19096 his career as a field secretary for.American Friends 610-642-7575 610-649-7440 Service Committee, working with war refugees in www.(riendscentral.org Scattergood, Iowa, where he met Ruth Elizabeth Carter, whom he married in 1940. He served on the Illinois Board of Welfare Commissioners, then returned to Rhode Island, where he held executive positions at several public institutions, including the Correctional Institution, the Division of Public Assistance, the Rhode Island Heart Association, and the Rhode Island Council of Community Ser vices. In Pittsburgh, Pa., he served at the Health and WelFare Association of Allegheny County. He was an officer in the National Association of Social Workers and served on many volunteer social welFare boards, progressive political organizations, and town committees in the region, promoting conservation, agriculture, and open space, includ ing preservation of Ruth's 1669 family farm for ~ck perpetuity under agricultural and conservation ench restriction. In 1992 Bob and Ruth moved to the B A NOVEL Kendal Quaker retirement community in Hanover, by Margaret Hope Bacon N.H. At various times, they maintained meeting membership in Richmond (Ind.), Chicago, Provi It's 1837, and fourteen-year dence, Pittsburgh, North Dartmouth (Mass.), and old Quaker Myra Harlan's Hanover (N.H.). After Ruth's death in 1999, Bob married Mary Lou Hemmerling and gained a mother has died, forcing her second beloved family. Bob was inspired through to leave her home and family out his adult life by the example of his ancestor, in the country to live in Mary Dyer. His book about her, To Try the Bwody Philadelphia. Shocked by Law, was published in 2000. Bob was a tennis the racism she sees all around her and caught in the and squash player, and a musician with talents ranging from square dance calling to playing aftermath of the Orrhodox-Hicksite split in the the concert violin and being an active member Religious Society of Friends, Myra longs for her of several orchestraS and string quartets. He had a mother and struggles to make friends until she finds warm and lively wit through his 90th year. Bob the Female Anti-Slavery Society, Lucretia Mort, was preceded in death by his first wife, Ruth. He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou Hemmerling; his Sarah Douglass, and-ultimately-hersel£ four children, Robert Burgess Jr., David Burgess, Quaker Press ofFGC, 2007, 136 pp., paperback $13.00 Joan Chesebro, and Marjorie Waite; his brothers, Andy Burgess and Sam Burgess; his sister, Abby Rockett; four stepchildren; five grandchildren; five january 2008 FRIENDS JOURNAL ·step-grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and Make your several nieces and nephews, whose lives he followed with great interest. principles a reality. Camp-Katherine MerriU Lindsley Camp, 77, on July 9, 2006, of complications from a suoke, at the Quadrangle retirement community in Haverford, Pa., where she had been a resident for 16 years. Speak truth Before that she had lived in Havertown, Norris town, and King of Prussia, Pa., for more than 40 to power. years. Kay was born on July 10, 1918, in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., to Horace Nelson Lindsley and Louise Keyes Lindsley. She grew up on a farm in Livingston, N.J., graduated from Madison High School, and earned her BA in Psychology and Education at Swarthmore College in 1940. Kay was introduced to Quakerism and met her future husband, Intern at FCNL in Washington, DC. William Perrine Camp, at Swarthmore; they mar ried in 1941. She worked as a cryptographer for the People needed to assist lobbyists with research, technological support, War Department in Washingron, D.C., during WWII, while Bill served in the Army Medical citizen education, and policy reform campaigns. Modest salary, Administrative Corps in Europe. Kay later found life changing experiences, start in September. ed and directed Fairmont School, a nursery and kindergarten in Havertown, while Bill attended medical school at University of Pennsylvania. When their children were young, she was a den mother and PTA president. In 1956, the family Friends Committee on National Legislation joined Norristown (Pa.) Meeting, and the children PFC artended Friends schools. The war years and the 245 Second St, NE, Washington, DC 20002 subsequent Cold War and arms race, as well as her Website: www.fcnl.org/young/intern.htm vision for her children's future, fueled her passion UNL to work for peace and understanding on a broader scale. In 1962, she became founder and president of the Greater Norristown Bi-Racial Study Group, and in 1965 she received the Bersh Community Brotherhood Award. Kay served on numerous meeting committees and on the Peace Committee 'EXCELLENCE IN 'LEARNING • GROWTH IN 'KNOWLEDGE of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, as well as in other capacities. She supported the work of American Friends Service Committee, serving on advisory committees that promoted international peace and understanding. Kay devoted nearly 50 years to ACA'D'EMY Women's International League for Peace and Free dom (WILPF), ofwhich she was U.S. Section pres - -- A8JilL - - ident &om 1967 to 1971 and international presi dent &om 1974 to 1980. Kay's work for WILPF took her around the world. She studied Russian and in 1961 attended a seminar for Soviet and U.S. women to discuss peace and disarmament. She chaired a Congress of Women of the Americas in Bogota, Colombia, in 1970 and headed a WILPF delegation to North and South Vietnam in 1971, working with women's groups on a peace agree 'EVERY 'LIFE IS TO BE 'EXPLORED ment on behalf of the women of Vietnam and the U.S., calling for President Nixon to set the date for CELEBRATED AND 'ENJOYED withdrawal. In 1974, she led a team of women to investigate human rights violations in Chile and Founded in 1876 by Gideon Frost for "the children of Friends and testified about their findings before the UN Human Rights Commission and U.S. Congress. those similarly sentimented," Friends Academy is a Qyaker, coeduca Her her-finding missions and conferences for tional, independent, college preparatory school on Long Island serv WILPF also took her to Cuba, Israel, Iran, Nicaragua, Iraq, and more than 30 other countries. ing 750 students from age three through twelfth grade. Kay served terms as chair and president of the Pennsylvania Women's Political Caucus and ran as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in Friends Academy • 270 Duck Pond Road 1972. She served on the Board of Managers of Locust Valley/Glen Cove, NY us6o Swarthmore College from 1974 to1977. In 1975, she organized and co-chaired the First Internation Telephone: 516-676-0393 • www.fa.org al Women's Seminar on Disarmament at the UN. Recru itment@fa .org She wrote numerous articles, pamphlets, and columns, and compiled and edited Listen to the FRIENDS ]OURNALjanuary 2008 47 Display Ad Deadlines March issue: Reserve space by January 7. Ads must be received by January 10. WOmen for a Change, an anthology of writings by Reservations are April issue: Reserve space by February 11 . global feminists. In 1978, Presidem Jimmy Caner required for display ads Ads must be received by February 14. appoinred her advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the in FRIENDS JOURNAL. UN General Assembly's Special Session on Disar Ad rate is $40 per column inch. mament. In 1980 Kay was appointed to the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and was also Call (215) 563-8629 now a board member of the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies. She worked on the UN with your reservation or questions. Non-Governmental Organization Comminee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security and was an E-mail: [email protected] organizerlliason with the U.S. Dept. of State at the National SALT II Women's Conference in 1979. Kay was al"so active locally, opposing nuclear pow er (she w~ arrested and spent four days in prison for protesting at the Limerick, Pa., nuclear power plant in 1980), speaking and demonstrating against the war in Viemam- and every war since chen-standing up for the rights of women and minorities. In 1978, WILPF presented her with irs Peace and Freedom Award, and the SANE Educa tion Fund gave her irs annual Peace Award. Kay received honorary degrees from Haverford College and Swarthmore College. In 1982 she was the recipient of the Gimbel Philadelphia Award. The organization Promoting Enduring Peace honored her with the Gandhi Peace Award, and the Fellow ship of Reconciliation gave her irs Marrin Luther King Jr. Peace Prize. The Institute for Defense and Disarmament Srudies honored her for her "lifetime of work for peace and democracy'' in 1990. In 2005, the Delaware County branch of WILPF established a fund in her name to be administered by the Jane Addams Peace Association. Kay main tained a sense of humor in aU her activities. She ini tiated and hosted innumerable family gatherings, usually including charades or badminton and ocher games. Kay was an avid reader, loved garden ing and wild flowers, and enjoyed cooking, sailing, camping, and writing doggerel. She was energetic, spirited, and determined. Her vision for the future encompassed both a world at peace and a joyful family life. In her mid-60s, with Bill and their sons, she designed and built a log cabin in Maine. Dur ing her retiremem years at the Quadrangle she played tennis into her 80s, sang with choral groups, and took leadership roles in comminees and neigh borhood peace groups. She continued working and traveling with WILPF. Although her family sometimes wished Kay would take more time to relax, they were admiringly supportive of her. Dur ing the last decade of her life, Kay dedicated herself increasingly to caring for Bill, who suffered from dementia. After his death in 1999, Kay found herself in love with fellow Quadrangle resident George U. Favorite, and they enjoyed a few months AQuaker boarding and day high school where... of happiness together until his death in 2000. For ...per sonaltransformations take place the last few years of her life, Kay and resident ... each person seeks to live with full integrity Simon E. Gluck shared each ocher's loving com panionship. Kay Camp is survived by her sons, ... distinct ways of learning are honored David, Nelson, and Anthony Camp; her brother, Thomas K. Lindsley; seven grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. eting School january 2 008 FRIENDS J OURNAL Forum CLASSIFIED continued from page 5 • Classified rate is 80¢ per word. Minimum charge the modern co-op movement. After all, our worthy ofrespect. is $25. Logo is additional $19. Add 10% if boxed. spiritual individualism is coupled with our "we utterly deny all outward wars and 10% discount for three consecutive insertions, 25% for six. Appearance of any advertisement commirmen( to a participatory and strife, andfighting with outward weapons, for does not imply endorsement by Friends Journal. democratic search for Truth. We honor each any end, or under any pretense whatsoever; this CLASSIFIED AD DEADLINES: person's direct link to the Divine, but is our testimony to the whole world. . . . The March issue, January 14 emphasize community as the lens through spirit ofChrist, by which we are guided, is not April issue, February 18 which we best come to understand God and changeable, so as once to command us .from a Submit your ad to: the universe. With these as our values, how thing as evil, and again to move unto it; and Advertising Manager, Friends Journal 1216 Arch Street, 2A might we translate our spiritual vision into we do certainly know, and testify to the world, Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835 an economics based in democracy, that the Spirit ofChrist, which leads us into all For Information call (215) 563-8629 participation, fairness, and solidarity? Truth, will never move us to fight and war Fax (215) 568-13n E-mail: [email protected] A cooperative is defmed by the against any man with outward weapons, International Cooperative Alliance as an neither for the Kingdom ofChrist, nor for the Accommodations autonomous association of persons united kingdoms ofthis world. " Coming to London? Friendly B&B just a block from the voluntarily to meet their common economic, we believe we are called to live in that love British Museum and very close to London University. A cen tral location for all tourist activities. Ideal for persons travel social, and cultural needs and aspirations and power that takes away the occasion ofall ing alone. Direct subway and bus links with Heathrow Air through a jointly owned and democratically war. It is in this Spirit that we join with others port. The Penn Club, 21 Bedford Place, London WC1 B SJJ. Telephone: +44 (207) 636-4718. Fax: +44 (207) 636-5516. controUed enterprise guided by the values of in the call for an immediate termination ofthe fRIENDS ]OURNAL january 2008 49 Pendle Hill Pamphlets are timely essays on many Quaker Writers and Artists! Join the Fellowship of Quakers in the Arts ($25/year), Positions Vacant readable at one sitting. Subscribe to receive and share your work with Friends in our exciting quar I .....six pamphlets/year ., .... ,.. for.-"""-·"' $25 (US). Also avail-· terly, "Types and Shadows.• Seeking short fiction and CAMP DIRECTOR for Quaker led Camp Woodbrooke able: every pamphlet published previously by non-fiCtion, poetry, drawings, B&W photos, and NEWS irt southern Wisoonsin. Applicants must have summer Pendle Hill. 800-742-3150 ext. 2or january 2008 FRIENDS j OURNAL Living in Retirement: People who believe in peace and jus Custom Marriage Certificates and other traditional or dec· Retirement Living tice never retire, they just move to Uplands! An ecumenical orated documents. Various calligraphic styles and watercol· community with UCC relationship. www.UplandsVillage.com or designs available. Over ten years' experience. Pam Ben Friends Homes, Inc., founded by North Car (931) 277·3518. . nett, P. 0. Box 136, Uwchlan, PA 19480. (610) 458-4255. olina Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends, <:[email protected]>. has been providing retirement options since Moving? Maybe David Brown, a Quaker real estate broker, 1968. Both Friends Homes at GuiHord and can help. Contact him at FRIENDS ]OUP.NAL january 2008 51 June 20-August 2, 2008 I Relax, work, and worship in community; 1 Take Arts and/or Quakerism classes from our resident faculty; I Choose all you want from a menu of five-day retreats and weekend workshops; I Do early morning yoga; I Eat nutritious organic food; I Join in daily Meeting for Worship; I Take time for personal discernment- Where are you called to be next? "~e-.~le /lill ~elpeb •e eMplotae -pitaituAI '-.u~fe-.' Sei•f o-. tA•pu- Iota t~e _,.,_,_eta teta• fAIIe •e oppotatu-.itie- to 'lille' W~At ~ WA- leA~a-.i•4·" PENDLEHILL For more information, contact A QUAKER CENTER FOR STUDY AND CONTEMPLATION [email protected] 338 Plush Mill Road · Wallingford, PA 19086 or call ext. 3 at www.pendlehill.org 800.742.3150 or 610.566.4507