May 2006 • $5 Quaker Thought FRIENDS and Life OURNAL Today
llNO WORDS" -from the weblog ofTom Fox
"Those who love their country in the light oftheir love ofGod, express that love ofcountry by endeavoring to make it respected rather than feared, loved rather than hated "
- KENNETH BOULDING An AMONG FRIENDS independent • magazine serving Reflections on the Witness of the Religious Society Tom Fox of friends It seems ettsier somehow to confront anger within my heart than it is to confront ftar. But if Editorial Susan Corson-Finnerry (Publisher and Executive jesus and Gandhi are right, then I am not to give in to either. I am to stand firm against the Editor), Roberr Dockhorn (Senior Editor}, Rebecca kidnapper tts I am to stand firm against the soldier. ... Ifjesus and Gandhi are right, then I Howe (Assislllnt Editor}, Judith Brown (Poetry Editor}, am ttsked to risk my and Lose it to be tts forgiving tts they were when murdered by the Ellen Michaud (Book Review Editor), J. Brent Bill Life ifI (Assistant Book Review Editor), Joan Overman (Book forces of Satan. I struggle to stand firm, but I'm willing to keep working at it. -Tom Fox, Review Assistant), Christine Rusch (Milestones Ediwr), 2/22/04 Robert Marks, George Rubin (News Editors), Kara Newell (Columnist), Marjorie Schier (Copyeditor), Parry Quinn (Volumur) do not remember a time when my heart was quite so heavy in writing this column Production nor when I felt so humbled by the quiet and clear decisions taken by a Quaker Barbara Benton (An Director}, Alia Podolsky contemporary. Friend Tom Fox has left behind a legacyofwordsand actions for the (Assistallt Art Dirmor), Peter Deitz (Web Manager) I world, and certainly for us, his fellow Quakers. Motivated as he was to render service to Advertising, Circulation, Development Nagendran Gulendran (Advertising Manager), the suffering people of Iraq, it seems very clear that Tom Fox sought to stand in Nicole Hackel (Circulation Assistant), Gabriel Ehri solidarity, first with Jesus and his understanding ofJ esus' teachings, and then with the (Director ofM arketing, Circulation, and Special victims of violence perpetrated by our own government. He sought to overcome his Projects), Patricia Boyle (Database Manager), Margie Garrett (Devewpment Coordinator), Kay Baco n, Rurh own anger, fear, and emotional numbing to see what Love might do. He was willing to Peterson (Vo!umem) live in a state of"queasiness" in "the middle of nowhere" as part ofa spiritual discipline Administration that called him to let go of self and align his actions with the wisdom of his spiritual Marianne De L:mge (Office Manager), Tom McPeak teachers. The Sufis say that we are God's hands and eyes in this world. Tom Fox was (Accounting Services) living that reality on a daily basis in one of the most challenging circumstances possible. Board ofTrustees Barbata Andrews, Michael Baldwin, Jon Berry, Paul H is life was a quiet witness, touching many here and abroad. His kidnapping and death Buckley, Kathari ne Clark, Karen Cromley, John have drawn attention from around the world to his beliefs and his personal sacrifice and Darnell, William Deutsch {Assistant Clerk), Mary Ann their meaning. Downey, Walter Evans (Treasurer), Linda Houser, Paul Landskroener (Recording Clerk}, Pat La Viscount, Li nda Shortly after his murder in early March was reported in the news, I began looking for Lyman, Jay Wade Marshall, Ellen Massey, Ron more information on the Internet. There were many, many expressions of grief and McDonald, Larry Miller, Nancy Moore, Petra Perkins, Claire Reddy, Janet Ross, Susanna Thomas, Lynn sorrow at his loss, and many statements of admiration for his courage and bravery in Waddington, Margery Walker, Catherine Bell Werteroth, Pamela Williams, Elizabeth Years (Clerk) putting his trust in God while seeking to build bridges of peace. Bur I was stunned to
FRIE:-IDS j OURNAL (!SSN 0016-1322) was established find angry bloggers coldly commenting that Tom Fox was naive, out of rouch with in 1955 as thesuccessorro Th,Frimd(l827-1955) and Fritnds /nttlligmm ( 1844-1955). political reality, and that he "got what he deserved." Even on Tom's own weblog, there • FRilNOS jOURNAL is published monthly by are rude comments that, ro my mind, totally miss the point of what his life and witness Friends Publishing Corporation, 1216 Arch Srret:r, 2A, Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835. Telephone were about. I find myself wondering what these same individuals would say about the (2 15) 563-8629. E-mail [email protected]. life and sacrifice of]esus-was he naive, too? Periodicals posrage paid ar Philadelphia, Pa., and addi tio nal mailing offices. In the end, the image ofTom Fox that strikes me most clearly is the one on our cover • Subscriptions: one year $35. rwo years $65. Add $8 per this month. His quiet courage and faith in God comes through very plainly for me in year for postage to countries outside the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Individual copies $5 each. that photograph. Tom Fox had questions and doubts about right action, as many of us • Advertising information and assiscance is available on do. H e showed great humility in posting those doubts and questions on his web log. His request. Appearance of any advertisement does not imply endorsement by FRtENDS JouRNAL. circumstances, and his character by all accounts, were not conducive to hubris. His • Postmasrer: send address changes ro FRJENDS JouRNAl., struggle to live his faith in very difficult circumstances while experiencing very human 1216Arch Street, 2A, Philadelphia, PA 19 107-2835. • tC 2006 Friends Publishing Corporation. Permission emotions is deeply inspiring. Some of his reflections can be found on pages 6-9 of this should b< received !> 2 May 2 oo6FRIENDS Jo uRNAL I FRIENDS MAY 2006 JOURNAL VOLUME 52, NO. 5 • FEATURES • DEPARTMENTS 6 "No Words" 2 Among Friends Tom Fox, who died in Iraq in March while being held hostage, continued entries in his web log until his 4 Forum kidnapping. Here is a selection ofhis writings. 5 Viewpoint 10 Remembering Agnes: A Lesson in Survival and resistance: a message from Nonviolence Quaker House Margaret Hope Bacon 27 Witness An early experience working as an attendant in a mental hospital reinforced her faith in nonviolence. Offaith and boots 14 Friends Neighborhood Guild: A Quaker 28 Reflections Presence in Philadelphia I was blind, but now I see How do you recognize a divine revelation? Pamela Haines This evolving service organization dates back to 1879. 30 Analysis 18 The Three Gems Quaker truth-seeking and the "unitary presidency" Bob Burnett He has reworded a Buddhist prayer as he reflects on his 31 Books relation to the Spirit, to the meeting, and to democracy. 37 News 21 The Cross and the Cuckoo's Egg 40 Bulletin Board I Risa Stephanie Bear She modernizes a parable to illustrate discrimination on the 43 Milestones basis ofsexual preference or gender identity. 53 Classified Cover photo: 24 The Lord's Prayer Revisited Tom Fox in Iraq. Photo courtesy Alicia Parks ofC hristian She is making this prayer her own. • POETRY Peacemaker Teams 13 Birdsong Lisa Lister 20 Afghani Schoolgirls Luise van Keuren 23 Despite the Rain Lynn Martin 26 Entering the Kingdom Charles A. Waugaman F RIBNDS jOURNAL May 2006 3 • FORUM Exchange at a copy center oil supplies could plummet. Blackouts and collective aggression by the early ethologists handicapped distribution lines of food and was to put in an enclosed small area two For a few days beginning September 11, medicine will follow. God has been sending different clans of brown rats, without which the American Friends Service Comminee's us the messages for decades, maybe centuries much of our understanding of the Pittsburgh Program hosted the "Bring Them since Malthus, and plagues and wars before, psychology of our own collective aggression Home Now" tour at Pittsburgh etc., since the beginnings ofhominids. In would be remiss. Humans are animals, and Meetinghouse. I interviewed several bones in hominid collections around the until we respect those drives that have members of the tour, one of whom gave me world like at the Cleveland Museum of shaped our culture for its existence, and two 8-by-1 0-inch color photographs to be Natural History there is evidence of respect our relationships with biodiversity, copied. One picture was a collage pneumonia-like epidemics that wiped out we will continue until we learn the hard snapshots of a young man in various stages entire populations in Africa. Also, something way-probably too late. of growing up. The other was of the cargo (or some things) completely wiped out the Culture, science, mathematics, and hold of a C-130 aircraft. conspecific Homo erectus. SARS and AIDS language, etc., may be the signs of I handed the pictures to a young woman are nothing new to human history as intelligence, or simply advanced use of at a copy center. She flipped them over and density-dependent death-causing illnesses; cognitive signals most higher vertebrates handed me back the picture of the C-130, and they are tiddlywinks compared to what (mammals and avifauna) have to obtain the saying, ''I'm not sure. That picture may we've been through, and what may yet be to same needs. Certainly, the degree of social actually be copyrighted. We can't make a come. AIDS is evolving faster than modern organization and technology in Homo copy of it." treatments, and probably will continue to do sapiens, the "wise ones," is unprecedented. I pointed to the collage, which she was so. Virology is further than most think to a That in itself, however, does not define us as holding, and said, "A man asked me to make cure, and even than some virologists think. intelligent, except comparatively. Using our these copies. The pictures you have are of his Determining the human genome does not criteria to determine that we are intelligent son. His son died in the GulfWar." cure illness in itself. One must find the goes against objective science. We do have She said, "And?" genetic material causing specific illnesses, the collective cognitive skills, I believe, to "I held up the picture of the C-130 with which may vary ftom individual to unlearn war. If we can advance its contents- 19 flag-draped caskets-and I individual: indeed, more than one illness technologically as far as we have, we literally replied, "His son is in one of these boxes." may be co-occurring, misdiagnosed simply have no excuse but to. She looked at the collage again, and then as pure this or pure that. So many genetic Grant Stevenson at me. There was a pause. She reached across illnesses are polyrypic, involving too many Bethlehem, Pa. the counter, lifted the picture from my alleles, and it will take well into next century hands, and said, "Okay, then." to begin thinking cures. At this rate, we'll all Bonds between Native Sam Blackburn be dead by then. Pinsburgh, Pa. I call for an equal emphasis on saving Americans and Friends populations, many individuals, rather than I have a different perspective to share in helping a rich individual and the medical thinking about Quaker sweat lodge activities. Evolving toward peace and establishment. We need mass intervention in My mother was a genealogist, and once family planning, healthcare for women and JUStiCe wrote, "I decided to research which Virginia children, rights and education for women, Quaker family in our line was Cherokee, Like Dale Berry (Forum, October 2005), and the government needs to listen to what and found out-every one of them!" One I, too, am a biologist, an organismal one, masses of professional ecologists and First branch of my Quaker relatives were also the with evolution beliefs. But I, too, believe Americans have been saying about better adopted family my Oneida great-great universal peace is possible and not environmental planning for centuries. The grandmother came to when she left her maladaptive, with family planning (see www U.S., whatever the government, must pay its people to focus on keeping the oral history .popconnecr.org) and reduced consumption. debt to the UN in general, and toward she was responsible for- the pressures on my As far as a plan by God for Creation is sustainability in specific. It's the question grandmother's village were too severe to concerned, that is inconsistant with my now: Do you want your children and allow for the learning time necessary to keep beliefs. But I believe God created evolution grandchildren to live, or possibly die, it. These Quakers deserve credit for keeping as a constant Design. Genetic heredity and without a chance at life? this vast history from being lost. My family's selection are not necessarily self-created Evolution states that human warfare hisrory tells of a long-lasting, mutually automatons. evolved when the benefits of cooperative beneficial interaction among Native But more important is where we are aggression to secure scarce (mostly Americans and Quakers (our history is headed: the sustainability issue must be metabolic) resources like protein (or oil) to published through our own small press, A addressed with more vigor. "Sustainability" maintain an uninfiltrated gene pool or Tribe ofTwo Press, 4 May 2006 FRIENDS JOURNAL • VIEWPOINT Survival and resistance: a message from Quaker House, Fayetteville (Ft. Bragg), N.C. akerism was born in a time of ly on daily life: family, job, religion, entertain Until recently, Friends' mainly middle evolutionary upheaval. Yet it ments, even quiet political hand-wringing. All class status has seemed co protect us-not earned how co survive when che while being careful "not to interfere." because we are strong, but because the Qrevolution failed and was fol By tracking how this tsunami of evil qui rulers think us weak, gullible, easily intim lowed by decades of persecution. etly engulfed so many "good people," Milcon idated, incapable of interfering. However, I sometimes hear Quakers waxing nos Mayer became one of the most truly prophet they are wrong about us. Quakers, after tal?,ic abou~ reco;~ring the fire and fervor ic Quaker voices of the last century. all, pioneered the making of steel, and of early Fnends. This discernment defines the elements of in their early crucible, Friends learned This longing is understandable. In the task now before us. We can also learn of it steely resolve, doggedness, and courage. my view, beyond the fire and fervor, che from the costly but fruitful ordeals that over With God's help, we can survive and best things to recover from "early Friends" whelmed Friends after their first upsurge. The resist again, and our witness can again are che toughness and determination heroes who endured the "sufferings," and even have impact. that brought the body through the years wrested from them a real measure of free Indeed, a few of the rulers' minions of repression. dom-they are our examples. have begun co glimpse this subversive This communal hiscory looms large The watchwords for such a time of trial are potencial, as shown by the reports of spy tbday because we are in an increasingly two: Survival and Resistance, and they are ing on Quaker witness. There will be similar plight, facing an all-but-estab offered here as a motto for our life and witness more of that. And in due time, if some lished police state, repressive wichin and coday, and for many tomorrows. persist in refusing the demand to do noth truculent without. T he grim details are Survival does not yet mean preserving our ing, surveillance can be followed by more described daily, if ever more faintly, in che physical lives. Rather, it means thwarting the stringent measures. remaining dissident media outlets here. soul-consuming program of compliant denial So: Survival and Resistance. That is While many Americans recoil, the major and submission starkly charted by Milcon our call. Early Friends rose to ic, and ity shrug and submit. Mayer. T hus our first duty is co find the left us models and warnings. Our recent Unlike early Friends, we are not being courage co banish illusion and face our plight, prophets have shown us that such a singled out-but we are not exempt clear-eyed. This is a daily cask. time of trial could come co us again. And either. The process is more sweeping and Resistance means being faithful to this so it has. sinister now. Its essence was best described undeceived awareness, becoming "wise as ser To take up this challenge, here are two 50 years ago by Friend Milcon Mayer in pents and harmless as doves," persistently suggestions: First, Read Milton Mayer's They Thought They Were Free. Mayer refusing "to do nothing": challenging, under book. Discuss it at your meeting. Then showed in calm, harrowing detail how mining, and igniting sparks of liberation in move to "A Quaker Declaration ofWar," ordinary, virtuous 1930s Germans were what George Fox called "this thick night." at the Quaker House website. Keep read seamlessly reduced from citizens to sub Yet this summons co survival and resistance ing, keep talking, keep centering. The jects, cogs in the Nazi machinery. is not simply a call co the barricades, or even leadings will come. One of che most telling features of this co more activism. T here will be much of that, Friends, the impending struggle will 1palevolent transformation was that for still. But the early Friends' experiences sug be long and costly. Lee us set co work, most, all it entailed was doing nothing. As gest-as does Mayer's book-that to be chen, co make it fruitful as well. Mayer put it: "the rest of the 70,000,000 enduring, its wellspring will come from with Germans, a pare from the 1,000,000 or in, more than from without. Deepening our Chuck Fager so who operated the whole machinery own personal and communal spiritual roots, of Nazism, had nothing to do except not making them our "strongholds" - these are Chuck Fager has been director of Quaker to interfere." the deepest "action" priorities. House in Fayetteville (Ft. Bragg), N C, Or as one of his German friends con There are sound theological reasons for since 2002, where he and others conduct GI fessed, in abject shame: "Suddenly, it all this emphasis, but just as powerful practical counseling, peace work (raUies, vigils, etc.), comes down at once. You see what you ones too: when the new police state (or its ene and serve as a resource on peace concerns for are, what you have done, or, more accu mies) begins co target Friends, and those with Friends groups and others. He is a member rately, what you haven't done (for that was whom we are culpably connected, it is these of State College (Pa.) Meeting, and an all that was required of most of us: that we "strongholds" that we will be forced co fall attender ofFayetteville (N C) Meeting. He do nothing)." back on. They will become our ultimate can be reached at FR.mNDS ]OURNALMay 2006 5 FROM THE WEBLOG OF TOM FOX In November 2005, Tom Fox, a member ofLangley Hill (Uz.) Meeting, and three other members ofthe Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq were kidnapped by a group calling itse(fthe Swords ofRighteousness Brigade. Their lives were threatened ifall Iraqi detainees were not imme diately released. Messages ofsupport for these peacemakers came.from around the world, including many .from the Muslim community. On March 10, 2006, Tom Fox's body was recovered in Baghddd. On March 23, his three follow peacemakers were rescued by multinational forces without a shot being fired. The following excerpts are .from Tom Fox's online journal starting with the most recent first, and ending with his clear perception about what nonviolence required ofhim. -Eds. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 200) 8, an action in remembrance of the anniver TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 200) sary. Their proposal was to raise funds to There are No \%reb- contribute to relief efforts for the victims This Sad ~aring "The ongoing difficulties faced by Fal of the earthquake in Pakistan. He said lujans are so great that words fail to prop that a teaching of Islam is to always look Away ofthe Heart erly express them." -Words.from a cleric to aid others in need before asking for '1 must have something in life which will in Fallujah as he tried to exp!din the litany aid yourself. fill this vacuum and prevent this sad wear ofills that continue to afflict his city one year The cleric said that he recently traveled ing away ofthe heart. " after the US.-Ied assault took p!dce. to another Middle Eastern country and -Elizabeth Blackwell "All the men in the mosque were from during his visit he met with a cleric from my neighborhood. They were not terror Libya. The Libyan cleric said that in his This was the quote today in my plan ists." -Words.from a young man who said city, and in other places in Libya, parents ner as I considered the tragedies both he left a room of men who were either are naming newborn girls "Fallujah" in great and small, personal and global we injured or homeless 30 minutes before the honor of the city. The cleric said that more are all dealing with. Within one week my raid on his mosque, the same mosque shown than 800 girls had been named Fallujah in Quaker meeting has lost two great souls. in the now-famous videotape ofa US. soL his city alone. Both showed exceptional courage facing dier shooting unarmed men lying on the Words are inadequate, but words are medical conditions that took their lives. mosque floor. all we have. Words like "collective pun One faced them all his life and the other "There haven't been any funds for ishment" and "ghettoize" come to mind faced them over a number of years. home reconstruction available since the for the current state of life in Fallujah. I don't have a television but the images change in Iraqi government last January." What words or deeds could undo the on the Internet and newspapers of the -The words of a civic leader .from massive trauma faced by the people ofFal devastation in the Gulf states are almost Fallujah as he showed CPTers the still-dev lujah every day? Everywhere we went dur beyond comprehension. How what was a astated areas ofhis city. ing the afternoon young boys listened to glorified thunderstorm off the coast of There are no words. A city that has our words and the words of those with Africa several weeks ago could transform been demonized by Americans and many whom we were meeting. I kept wonder itself into what we have called Hurricane Iraqis, using the words "the city of terror ing what was going on in their minds as Katrina is beyond me. ists." A city that its residents call "the city they relived the events of a year ago and I was planning on sending out the of mosques." A city that even its residents the ensuing trauma. What effect will these Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq have to enter at checkpoints, often taking events have on their lives as they grow up? update from last week but it was simply ~ up to an hour to traverse. A city that is There are no words. roo much bad news-a suicide bomber in ~ being choked to death economically by our neighborhood; a friend of the t those same checkpoints. ream with typhoid from the drink ~ CPTers and a member of the Muslim ing water in the city; the uncle of a ~ Peacemaker Teams came to Fallujah to colleague who died from the intense J! meet with friends and contacts to ask heat due to lack of electricity. Ir ~ them if the city was planning on doing went on and on. :g something in remembrance of the tragic And then today the incredible 6 events oflast November when U.S. forces tragedy on the bridge leading into ~ attacked their city of 300,000 to root out, K.adamiah in Baghdad. A solemn ~by U.S. estimates, 1,500 terrorists. religious processional turned into S What we heard in response were words chaos and death. An event that ~ of remembrance, resistance, and resilience. would nor have happened had not ~ The cleric said that a number ofcivic lead the events of the last two-and-one ~ ers had come to him with a proposal for Boys coming home &om school in Fallujah half years driven almost everybody 6 May 2 006 FRIENDS jOURNAL in Iraq to the edge of the precipice of much more often than they would use the uncontrollable fear. words "respect and love" when it comes to 1$ there something in life that will fill describing the United States. This is the thisE:vacuum and prevent this sad wearing case not only in the Middle East bur in awa of the heart? I have no idea but I do Europe and in much of Asia and other kno that my heart feels differently when areas as well. We are seen more as an I consider the unknowable realms of dis empire than as a beacon of hope to the ease and natural disaster compared to the oppressed and downtrodden. We are seen man-made disasters that bring about more as a militaristic superpower, bent on death and destruction. imposing our will on others, rather than I say "man-made" intentionally. We the keeper of the flame of the hope and have seen again and again in the last 100 promise of democracy. years the evolution of warfare to the point Perhaps the only way out of this is to nov( when the first two parts of war that claim the true relationship of God and have been in play for centuries, that of country as described by Boulding. We middle-aged men sending our young men must come from a spirit oflove and com Tom Fox helps Muslim Peacemaker Teams to fight and die to keep the middle-aged clean Fallujah streets after the U.S. incursion. passion to help our leaders and many of me9 in power, has added a third compo our fellow citizens come to see that if we ne'1t. Still the young fight and die to themes: love of country and love of God. rruly love God then we must make a dras retam the power of the middle-aged men I've lived in the Washington, D.C., area tic change ofdirection in the course ofour but now most of those who lose their lives for over 30 years, known as a bastion of country. The only way we will gain in the conflict are women and children. patriotism, bur even then I was not pre respect is by showing it to others, even Four months ago the UN commis pared for the plethora of red, white, and those we disagree with. The only way we sioned a study to look at Iraqi casualties blue that is part of the landscape here. will gain love is by giving it to others, even since the beginning of the U.S.-led inva Bumper stickers, flags on lawns, bill those we disagree with. Love of country sion. The organization that undertook the boards; the colors of the U.S. are in evi must always be subordinate to love of study was a Swiss group that studies what dence everywhere. As for love ofGod, this God. Love of country alone sets us on a they consider to be the true weapons of week marks the first time in my life (I course towards the disasters that have mass destruction-rifles and automatic think) that I've been approached three dif befallen other counties over the centuries. weapons. Weapons using bullets have ferent times by folks giving me bookmarks Charting a new course must begin now, killed the vast majority of human beings and other materials concerning salvation, before it is too late. in Iraq and everywhere else wars are being Jesus, and God. waged. The study stated that 40,000 As I was unpacking I came across a TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2005 Iraqis have probably died from violence Pendle Hill Pamphlet I forgot I had. It is since March of2003. That includes death entitled The Practice ofthe Love ofGod It For the Sake ofOur from U.S., Iraqi, and insurgent violence. is actually a transcript of a lecture that And 70 percent of those casualties were Quaker economist and peace activist Children innocent noncombatants, mainly women Kenneth Boulding gave right before the A colleague and I walked to a shop to and children. outbreak of World War II. He directed pick up an order. The shop owner told us The only "something in my life" I can most of the talk to concerns he had how very depressed she is regarding the hold onto is to do what little I can to bring regarding the conduct of the German ongoing security and infrastructure crisis about the creation of the Peaceable Realm people during the 1930s. I'm hoping I'm in Iraq. She feels, as do many Iraqis, that of God. It is my sense that such a realm way off base on this but as I took a break things are getting worse, not better. She will always have natural disasters. It is the from moving and sat down to read it said she is beginning to feel as if her life "man-made" disasters that we are called again I had a strong sense that much of has no meaning beyond working nine upon to bring to and end. what he had to say was applicable to my hours a day, six days a week. A co-worker country, the United States, in 2005. did not dispute her assessment of the sit TlfuRSDAY,AUGUSTI8,2005 One passage jumped our at me when uation but made an impassioned plea he said, "Those who love their country in never to give up hope for a better future. Country and God the light of their love of God, express that And even more importantly: to never stop This is the end of my first week of liv love ofcountry by endeavoring to make it working to help bring that better future to ing in Frederick County, Virginia, which respected rather than feared, loved rather come to pass. The co-worker concluded is situated in the northern parr of the than hated. Bur those who love only their by saying, "Things probably won't get Shenandoah Valley. While I've spent time country express that love by trying to better in my lifetime but I will keep work there before working at Opequon Quak make it feared and succeed all too often in ing to make things better for the sake of er Camp, it's the first time I've really had making it hated." our children." a chance to interact with local citizens and I think it would be fair to say that a sur Our apartment is across the street from get a sense of the community. I would vey of opinion taken from news sources in a park. Many evenings around the time have to say my first impression is that various parts of the world would find peo we are gathering for supper a mother and folks here operate under rwo main ple using the words "fear and hatred" her three children walk by our living FRIENDS jOURNAL May 2006 7 room window. The western sun illuminates her face and the faces of her young children. I don't know her but in a way I feel I do. She looks tired. So many, many people here in Iraq are so very tired. She looks a bit fearful. Will today be the day when the insurgents set off a car bomb near the park? Will today be the day when the young men of the Iraqi National Guard, riding like cowboys in the back of their pickup trucks, get trigger- happy and start shooting with her and her children in the line of fire? Yet day after day I see her taking her chil dren to the park. Underneath the fatigue and the fear I can sense the hope and the courage in her heart. Considered to be the most densely populated and poorest It reflects on her children as does neighborhood in Iraq, Sadr City the setting sun reflect on the near lacks the most basic of daily by Tigris River. She gives me necessities like water, electricity, courage to face the overwhelming and sewers. difficulties of life in this broken land. She is living in the present moment fully aware of the dangers and a lot of trouble developing a level of trust narrower. "Out of sight, out of mind" is uncertainties and yet she has not given up between them." He noted that when his an old saying that seems rather apt in this hope, she has not given in to despair, she office organizes a conference ofNGOs in case. The colonel seemed very confident has not let herself be driven into hiding by the Green Zone often they don't want to that the vision of the world he described men with guns and bombs. She is my follow the set agenda but need to express was an accurate and complete one. And teacher. She teaches me how to live fully their lack of trust for the U.S. military and this was true. Within his extremely limit conscious of the horrors of today and still for each other. Yet he failed to mention ed worldview, his vision was indeed clear. be able to envision a future of promise, the years of totalitarian rule by Saddam Bur what about the vast universe he was peace, and plenty. I would pray that we all followed by two years of anarchy, neither not seeing? What about the vast universe live each day, no matter where we are, "for of which would tend to develop trust in I'm not seeing? How do we all expand the sake of our children." any institutions. our vision to see things we don't want to "All of us took a nine-hour seminar on see? How do we stop putting "out of MONDAY, JUNE 06, 2005 understanding Iraqi culture when we got sight" things we don't agree with? I wish I here a year ago." The colonel said his unit had an answer but I don't even know Tunnel Vision would be going home at the end of the where to start. month after a year in Iraq. As is the case "Iraqis always seem to have lots of with many U.S. military and civilians WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2005 guns in their houses." A U.S. Army working in the Green Zone, the colonel colonel was making reference to how said he has never set foot on a street in Bagh The Middle of prevalent gun ownership is in Iraq. We dad. He has never been inside the home of were meeting with him in his office in the an Iraqi family, nor has he seen any of the Nowhere Green Zone. Draped across his high back historical or cultural sites of the country. The ability to feel the pain of another chair was an ornate leather holster with It would seem easy to characterize the human being is central to any kind of his service revolver. colonel as hypocritical and bigoted. I am peacemaking work. But this compassion "Our young technician can barely not the greatest judge of character but I is fraught with peril. A person can experi keep up with the demand." The colonel kept having an image of him on the ence a feeling of being overwhelmed. Or described the work ofa sergeant who is an North Rim of the Grand Canyon holding a feeling of rage and desire for revenge. Or expert in constructing artificial limbs. The up a tube from a roll of paper towels and a desire to move away from the pain. Or colonel said proudly that no one in Iraq describing what he saw. We are all finite a sense of numbness that can deaden the has the equipment or expertise that this creatures with a very limited field of ability to feel anything at all. young man has. Yet there did not seem to vision. But what I do (and it is my sense How do I stay with the pain and suf be an acknowledgement of why there is that the colonel does this also) instead of fering and not be overwhelmed? How do such a demand for artificial limbs in Iraq opening up my field of vision to include I resist the welling up of rage towards the at this time. things that I don't understand or agree perpetrators of violence? How do I keep "The Iraqi NGOs we work with have with is to make my field of vision even from disconnecting from or becoming 8 May 2006 FRIENDS jOURNAL numb to the pain? times their country is facing. But both ing to Badshah Kahn's Khudai Khid After eight months with CPT, I am no have a vision of a land of peace that they matgar officers; A Man to Match His clearer than when I began. In fact I have are working to bring to fruition. As for the Mountains, by Eknath Easwaran, p. 157). to struggle harder and harder each day current situation in his country the When I allow myself to become angry against my desire to move away or Dominican Father says, "I am prudent. I I disconnect from God and connect with become numb. Simply staying with the try to be wise. But I have no fear. This is the evil force that empowers fighting. pain of others doesn't seem to create any my rule-I have no fear but I seek pru When I allow myself to become fearful, I healing or transformation. Yet there seems dence and wisdom." The human rights disconnect from God and connect with to be no other first step into the realm of worker said, "I believe that the foundation the evil force that encourages flight. I take compassion than to not step away. of all major religions (Islam, Christianity, Gandhi and Jesus at their word-if I am "Becoming intimate with the queasy Judaism, and Buddhism) is peace. But it not one with God then I am one with feeling of being in the middle of no is a peace from within, not a peace imposed Satan. I don't think Gandhi would use where makes our hearts more tender. from without." that word but Jesus certainly did, on When we are brave enough to stay in the For a number of years our friend the numerous occasions. The French theolo nowhere place then compassion arises human rights worker has had a vision of gian Rene Girard has a very powerful spontaneously" (The Pkzces that Scare You, what he now calls an Islamic Peacemaker vision of Satan that speaks to me: "Satan by Perna Chodron). Being in the middle Team (IPT). He credits his contact and sustains himself as a parasite on what God of nowhere really does create a very queasy parmership with CPT over the last two creates by imitating God in a manner that feeling and yet so many spiritual teachers years with giving him some concrete ideas is jealous, grotesque, perverse, and as con say it is the only authentic place to be. to work with. He feels that there are two trary as possible to the loving and obedi Not staking out any ground for myself major hurdles to overcome in the forma ent imitation of Jesus" (/ Saw Satan Fall creares the possibility of standing with tion of IPT: one is the tension between Like Lighting, R. Girard, p. 45). anyone. The middle of nowhere is the one Sunni and Shi'a people (and leaders), and If I am not to fight or flee in the face place where compassion can be discov the other is the issue of what we in the ofarm ed aggression, be it the overt aggres ered. The constant challenge is recogniz West call "redemptive violence" as an sion of the army or the subversive aggres ing that my true country of origin is the acceptable way of resolving conflicts. The sion of the terrorist, then what am I to do? mid,dle of nowhere. Dominican Father has many projects "Stand firm against evil" (Matthew 5:39, going at this time. He is working on a translated by Walter Wink) seems to be SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2004 translation project because, he says, "Ara the guidance of]esus and Gandhi in order bic people make up over 5 percent of the to stay connected with God. But here in Candles in the world's population but only 1 percent of Iraq I struggle with that second form of the world's literature is available in Ara aggression. I have visual references and Shadows bic." He is also starting the Open Univer written models of CPTers standing firm At a team worship time soon after the sity of Baghdad. Renovation is beginning against the overt aggression ofan army, be kidnapping of Margaret Hassan [a CARE on an existing building that was used as a it regular or paramilitary. But how do you staffer who was subsequently killed] I had convent. It will be open to all, Christians stand firm against a car bomber or a kid a very clear image. It was ofa land ofshad and Muslims. Payment will be on a slid napper? Clearly the soldier being discon ows and darkness. But within that land ing scale with an emphasis on technical nected from God needs to have me fight. candles were burning; not many but skill building and language courses. Just as clearly the terrorist being discon enough to shed some light on the land Fearless, prudent, and wise. We in nected from God needs to have me flee. scape. Some candles disappeared and it CPT need to work to find a balance Both are willing to kill me using different was my sense that their light was taken between all three of these character traits. means to achieve the same end. That end away for protection. Other candles But it is my sense that removing ourselves being to increase the parasitic power of burned until nothing was left and a small from the shadows and darkness will nev Satan within God's good creation. number of candles seemed to have their er create the capacity for those living in It seems easier somehow to confront light snuffed out by the shadows and the the shadows to grow in the light. anger within my heart than it is to con darkness. What was most striking to me front fear. But if Jesus and Gandhi are was that as the candles that burned until right, then I am not to give in to either. I FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2004 the end and as the candles whose light was am to stand firm against the kidnapper as snuffed out ceased to burn, more candles I am to stand firm against the soldier. came into being, seemingly to build on Fight or Flight? Does that mean I walk into a raging bat their light. "If an attacker inspires anger or fear in tle to confront the soldiers? Does that I have been reflecting on two very my heart, it means that I have not purged mean I walk the streets of Baghdad with bright and powerful lights I have had the myself of violence. To realize nonviolence a sign saying "American for the Taking"? privilege of_getting to know in Iraq over means to feel within you its strength No to both counts. But ifJesus and Gand the last several months. One is a an Iraqi soul force- to know God. A person who hi are right, then I am asked to risk my life who is a member of the Dominican has known God will be incapable of har and if I lose it to be as forgiving as they Order. The other is a teacher who also boring anger or fear within [oneself], no were when murdered by the forces of worlks for a human rights organization. matter how overpowering the cause for Satan. I struggle to stand firm but I'm Both have no illusions regarding the dark that anger or fear may be" (Gandhi speak- willing to keep working at it. 0 FRIENDS JouRNAL May 2 006 9 IN NONVIOLENCE by Margaret Hope Bacon and too feeble to offer much fight, and the work of the ward attendants was more involved with nursing than with trying to restrain disturbed patients. There was some risk of catching the disease, but I was assured that by means ofX raying the attendants regularly, requiring everyone to wear a mask, and a routine of constant hand-washing, this risk could be minimized. If this were not good fortune enough, Allen himself had been transferred to the violent admission ward, South IA, in the Hubner group, so that we could work and eat our meals in the same building. The older, more experienced CO couples told us that we were very lucky. In the early days of the CPS unit, the COs were despised by patients, attendants, and administration alike. The attendants in particular saw these college kids, too "yellow" to go to war, as a threat. We came, took over jobs that the attendants had held all their lives, and claimed that by doing so we were making a comparable sacrifice to going overseas to fight doing work of national importance, as the Selective Service Act read. But when the war ended we would go back to col lege, or to our white-collar careers, and the attendants would go on doing the dirty work, which was the only henever I try to trace back my faith in that ofGod in every work they knew. one, and the power of nonviolence, my thoughts go back over 50 years This source of bitterness, combined with outraged patri to World War II and my experiences in a state mental hospital. And I otism, produced an ugly hostility. Many of the female think about a woman patient called Agnes Holler, and all that know attendants had husbands or sons in the service, and regard ing her taught me about violence and about myself, and the inde ed it as an act ofloyalty to these faraway loved ones to hate structible power of love. the COs. Some of the attendants persuaded violently dis My husband, Allen, was assigned to Springfield State Hospital in turbed patients that it was the COs who were responsible Sykesville, Maryland, as a conscientious objector in a Civilian Public for their troubles. Or walked away when the COs or the Service (CPS) unit during World War II. After a few months I was CO wives were in trouble with hard-to-control patients. Or able to join him as a ward attendant with the promise of a job in the simply left all the hardest and dirtiest work of the ward to social service department after three months. the despised "conchies." I arrived on a rainy day in March 1944. Allen had already learned But now, the old-timers assured us happily, things were that I was to be placed at first on the female Tubercular Ward at Hub very different. The mood had changed; the administration ner, the central administration building. This was regarded by the oth was beginning to realize that it could not run the hospital er attendants as an easy job. The TB patients were generally too old now without the COs, and to act accordingly. Some of the most bitter troublemakers among the old-time attendants Margaret Hope Bacon is a member ofCentral Philadelphia (Pa.) Meeting. She had left; the rest had lapsed into sullen hostility. COs were wrote this article in 1996, and it is being published for the first time; but, in a dif given more and more of the responsible jobs, and their wives ferent rendition, it was incorporated into her book Love Is the H ardest Lesson. were hired as nurses or social workers. 10 May 2006 FRIENDS JOURNAL [ should have been reassured, but I vision of myself as I might seem to them: warm water she relaxed, and her mum spent the night before my first day ofduty prissy, polite, pretending that I found bling resumed: " ... and little yellow place on the ward tossing and turning, my heart their work-their lifelong work-some mats and little violet bath mats." Perhaps thumping painfully. In vain I reminded thing I could pick up in a morning. Go she was planning a bridal trousseau. I was myself how quiet the TB ward had ahead, they were thinking, go ahead and no longer there. In fact, I had never been seemed when I had visited it, how pleas let's see what your college education does there, except for that one moment when ant the attendants. I was sleepless until the for you now. she lunged. Knowing this, my fear sub small hours of the morning, then fell into I rook a deep breath and put the key in sided still further. I was eager to get her a restless doze. All too soon the alarm was the lock. safely back to her cell, but I took time to ringing and we were on our feet, fumbling "Come, Agnes, I am going to give you get her clean, and even talked to her a lit for our clothes in the dim light of dawn, a bath," I said as quietly as I could. tle as I scrubbed. on our way to the 5:30 AM breakfast. Agnes remained in her corner, oblivi "How are you getting on with Agnes?" "Oh, so you're here," Miss Deckert, ous, mumbling. It sounded like some sort Miss Deckert asked from the doorway. the charge nurse, said when I arrived at of shopping list she recited, although only "Just fine," I said, busy with my wash the ward promptly at six. She showed me occasionally would I catch a scrap of it: cloth. the little attendants' room where I could " . . . and little yellow place mats, and yel "Keep your eye on her," Miss Deckert leave my things, then took me to the nurs low bath mats, and little lilac tea towels." said, uneasily. "She's apt to jump out of ing station and pointed out the patients' "Come, Agnes," I repeated. the tub at any moment." charts on which I was to mark their tem For a moment she continued to mut 'Til be careful," I promised. I could peratures. Since few of the patients could ter. Then suddenly she came toward me, see that she was surprised at how docile be trusted with a thermometer in their arms upraised, and I saw she meant to Agnes seemed, and how collected I mouths, all temperatures were to be tak strike me. appeared. Surprised and perhaps disap en rectally. Miss Deckert helped me with Senior lifesaving drill came to my aid. pointed. I felt a glow of pride. After she the first few, then, seeing that I could man I caught one raised arm by the wrist, left I helped Agnes out of the bath and age, went off to take care of other matters. pulled her across me, and pinned her arm dried her carefully with a large white tow I completed the round of temperature to her back. I was now behind her, and I el and put a clean robe on her. I even tried ta!Png without incident and began feed held on tight while she struggled against to comb the matted hair, but Agnes jerked ing bed patients their breakfasts. After this me. She was strong, but sick; I could feel away roughly. it was time to fetch bedpans and change the heat of her fever and the sharpness of "All right," I told her, "but some day sheets, and give bed patients their baths, her bones through the thin flesh of her I'll comb it, and I won't hurt you." while the charge attendant gave out med arm. Pity replaced my fear, and I relaxed I took her back to her cell then, and icine and fresh sputum cups. After the my grip a bit. "Come Agnes, I am going locked her up, and spent the rest of the lohg night of terror, the work seemed easy, to give you a bath," I repeated again. day scurrying around, trying to keep up aQd my spirits began to soar. Holding her still in front of me, but with Miss Deckert's orders. It was clear Toward the end of the morning Miss more loosely, I led her to the bathroom, that I was going to get the most work and Deckert looked up and, seeing me pause turned on the water with my free hand, the dirtiest jobs on the ward. But then, I momentarily, remarked that if I had and guided her into the large old-fash was the new girl. I was young and strong nothing better to do I could give Agnes ioned bathtub. As it began to fill with and I did not mind so much. I was tired Holler a bath. Since all the patients were but triumphant. It was just a job, and I one blur to me, I had no idea who Agnes could do it, as I had done other jobs before. Holler was. Miss Deckert solved the mys From that day on, Agnes was my spe tery by indicating a locked door at the end cial charge. Everyone began to notice that ofa short corridor adjacent to the nursing How could we she was more docile and tranquil with me station. "Watch out when you open the than with the other attendants. I was there door that she doesn't get away from you," fore the one to bathe and feed her, to take she cautioned. hold on to abelief her X-ray, to try to take her temperature. I I took the key she proffered, walked cleaned out her cell, and combed her hair, down the hall and peered into a small and even once cleaned her fingernails. window of thick glass, reinforced with in the goodness Not that I effected some great change m,eral wiring. The cell into which I looked in Agnes. She grew, if anything, worse was sunlit, tiled, and perfectly empty during the period I worked on TB II. Her except for a creature huddled against the inherent in people mumblings were more rapid and abstract; wall. It was a young woman I saw, tall and back in her cell she inevitably tore off her rather well built, but painfully thin, with clothes and threw her food about. At wild black hair and distraught features. when we saw fear night, and on my days off, she was report She was totally naked. edly the same old hellcat, attacking the at I looked back at the nursing station. tendants when given the least opportunity. M iss Deckert and the other attendant, and crueltu? Even though she acted differently with Emma, were watching me, smiling. It was me, she never gave the slightest sign of n9t a friendly smile. I caught a sudden knowing I was there. I talked to her as I FRIENDS joURNAL May 2oo6 II bathed and fed her, bur there was never were ill and dying; and two wards for charge ofco nscientious objectors, and was any indication that she heard a word I patients under treatment, South IIA and a place of relative quiet and harmony. said. The nurses told me it had been years South liB. Treatment at that time con Originally, it had taken five strong men to since she had spoken a word beyond her sisted almost entirely of electroshock or run this ward. All four of the special incessant mumble. I think the other insulin shock therapy, an effort to disturb locked isolation cells had been kept full; attendants thought I was crazy to chatter delusional thought and behavior patterns some with two or three patients jammed away to her, but I was lonely on the ward by producing a temporary amnesia. Sup together, augmenting each other's mad where no one spoke to me except to give posedly patients received some psy ness. After the COs were placed there, the orders, and talking to Agnes helped to chotherapy along with the shock treat locked cells were often vacant, and the pass the time. ments, bur with few trained doctors and administration reduced the number of Besides, in a curious way, I became a high patient ratio, this almost never hap attendants to four, then three, sometimes fond of Agnes. She was the Everest I had pened. There was no knowledge of the use only two. climbed, the clay I had potted, the lion I of drugs to deal with various psychoses in What had happened to make the dif had tamed. As I overcame all fear of her, I those days. It was shock or nothing. ference? For one thing, Allen and his col felt close, closer than with many of the The patients hated shock therapy and leagues were not afraid of their patients. other patients I subsequently knew. And fought it. The COs and their wives were Instead, they genuinely liked some of as fear waned there became room-as regularly called on to assist in bringing the them. At night Allen would often speak of them, describing this one's improvement, that one's depression, another's visit from his wife. This sort of friendly interest restored the patients' badly eroded sense ofdignity and spoke to the healthy self in them. Later we learned that COs in oth er hospitals had the same experience. Our of the CPS experience in mental hospitals came a significant new mental health organization (the Mental Health Associa tion of Southeastern Pennsylvania) with major impacts on the deinstitutionaliza tion of mental patients. After three months on the wards I was transferred as promised to the social serv ices department, where I was trained to be the admissions worker, interviewing the there usually does- for affection. I had a patients to the shock room and holding new patients and their families when pos warm feeling for Agnes, and being with them down during their convulsions. We sible, and arranging for a subsequent meet her became the bright spot of my day. disliked it intensely, but saw no alternative ing with each to take a case history. It was I did not stay long on the TB ward. short of leaving the hospital. not an easy assignment, and having a sec After six weeks the doctors took a patch South IIA ward was the worst assign retary who did not speak to me on princi test on my back and it came out negative. ment of all. It was run by a militant ple did not make it any easier, bur I learned This meant that I had no TB antibodies woman attendant, Mrs. Jones, who a great deal. I also came to know the med (the price of a protected childhood) and believed patients understood no language ical and social work staff intimately. was therefore a prime target to catch the except force, and acted accordingly. T hough I had worked before, most of disease. I must be moved immediately to Whenever she was present the ward was my jobs had been in settings with like another ward. I did not want to get sick, in a constant state of turmoil. Every minded people. This was my first job in but in a way I was sorry. I was familiar locked cell had one or two tenants; else the real world, and I was frequently disil with the ward routine, and I knew most where women were imprisoned in straight lusioned by the selfish and manipulative of the patients. Bur most of all, I found jackets. Screams rent the air. behavior that I observed within the hos I was reluctant to leave Agnes. On my Any effort to practice nonviolence on pital staff One doctor, addicted to giving last day on the ward I gave her an extra this ward was immediately undone by shock treatment, left for private practice, long bath and I realized that I was going Mrs. Jones. She hated the COs, and ob taking his favorite patients with him; a to miss her in a funny way. I told her I jected to having their wives assigned to her. social worker plagiarized an article I had was leaving but would return to visit, She demanded that we join her in tying written; one staff member eloped with the and I said goodbye, bur of course she did the patients into camisoles, and then crit wife of another. not respond. icized our knots. I detected that behind On what were we basing our conscien I spent the remaining six weeks of my her violence was a deep-seated fear of the tious objection to war but a belief in the time as an attendant moving from ward to patients. If perfect love casts out fear, I goodness inherent in people; that there ward in the Hubner Group. T here was the thought, then perfect fear casts our love. was that of God in everyone? Bur how infirmary ward, housing many recently In contrast, South IA, the men's violent could we hold on to such a belief when we admitted senile women, and a few who ward downstairs, was entirely under the saw fear and cruelty in the wards, and 12 May 2006 FRIENDS JoURNAL deception within the staff? As we heard more and more about the concentration camps in Europe, and as several friends BIRDSONG decided that they must leave CPS camp and join the Army, I became less and less She woke one morning sure that I really believed in the power song of nonviolence. unable to hear the collective of birds It all came to a head one beautiful Sep once a blended canopy of sweet sound tember day of the second year I spent at that enveloped the morning. Sykesville. I had had several experiences that rocked me, and I took a solitary walk As athe world hod changed overnight, over the fields to think it over. I knew that I simply could not go on she heard each bird's voice, with this life I had chosen, a life based on each song, the premise that humans could learn to live distinctly, with one another in peace, until I began and then immediate~ wondered whose song wos whose, to have a little faith in the good inherent in the human race, and in myself as well. what their markings, range, and habitats were, I kept seeing only the worst in myself and what names they hod been given. in others, and like a self-fulfilling proph esf, I kept experiencing the betrayals I As if she hod been shot in dreamland expected. I needed to believe, I thought; and though I was not very adept at pray by some winged cupid's arrow, ing in those days, I prayed for a sign. she was now in love with birds. T he sun was beginning to set across the woods when I started back towards She asked for albums of birdsongs for her birthday, the hospital. In the front hall I ran into an attendant's wife. She gave me a rather odd kept the Peterson's and binoculars near her window, lo0k. "Guess what?" she said. "I've just began dreaming of flying. been talking with a friend of yours." "A friend of mine?" She now noticed every detail: "Yes, Agnes Holler." the blush of each bird's bel~, "You've been talking to Agnes?" repeated, feeling stupid. '~nes hasn't the changing shape of toilfeothers, talked to anyone in years." the rhythm of wings in flight, "V.~.es, Agnes , " Fl orence sat'd . "Thi s was the distinctive markings of stripe, speck, and color. the day she was scheduled for a lobotomy. ~ was They were shorthanded and they asked But each bird's song that stole her heart. me to help. I was there when they operat ed. And, you know, it worked. For the Slowly, she realized that this mindfulness fi~t time in 22 years she talked coherent was spilling over to her doily life: ly. And Marge, you know whom she toast was buttered corefullly, talked about? You. She asked where you were and how you were. She said, 'How is the apple butter sniffed and savored that nice Mrs. Bacon? She is the only before ~ reached her tongue; fr~end I've had since I came to this place.' Her old relationships were fresh again, It ~eems like a miracle, doesn't it?" as if the spring rain of her new consciousness I continued to stare at Florence while wave afrer wave of reaction swept over me. had bathed and purified them all. The love I had felt for Agnes because she She began breathing deeply, had helped me overcome my fear. Perfect like a newborn relishing air. love had cast out fear instead of the reverse. I hadn't known before that, imperfect as I was, I could be the channel She was 52 before she heard, for the first time, -Lisa Lister of such love. And the fact that that love the individual songs of birds. had found its way through all the barriers Before she finally, tentatively, of Agnes' madness and isolation to the began learning her own song. essential miraculous person inside. "Yes," I said slowly, "like a miracle, a Now she both flies and sings in every dream, Lisa Lister attends Colorado sign." I began to cry. D whether waking or sleeping. Springs (Colo.) Meeting. FRIENDS JOURNAL May 2006 13 Friends Neighborhood Guild AQUAKER PRESENCE IN PHilADELPHIA by Pamela Haines Left to right: Friends Neighborhood Guild's first building; mothers' club, 1953; a 1940s basketball team; day camp, 1955; friends on the swing, early '50s; outreach to Puerto Rican immigrants, 1955; community organizing, early 70s The Beginnings waterfront, however, interest among Guild under the new Juvenile Court law. neighbors grew quickly, and there were In 1913 the Guild moved into the former n 1879, as an expression ofconcern for ongoing pleas for more volunteers. Green Street Meetinghouse at 4th and their new immigrant neighbors, In 1898 the care of the mission was Green, where one of the first events was I Friends in the Northern Liberties sec transferred to the Philanthropic Commit the inauguration of the city's first Well tion of Philadelphia established Friends tee of Philadelphia Q uarterly Meeting, Baby Clinic. Mission No. 1. Located in donated space and a building was secured for the newly To the German and Russian Jews, near the Delaware River, the mission named Friends Neighborhood Guild. Lithuanians, Bohemians, Hungarians, offered a midweek night school, a week Several new departments were added to Germans, Irish, and Slavs of the neigh ly temperance meeting, a sewing school, the ongoing program, including a kinder borhood, Poles and African Americans a religious meeting on First Days, and garten, manual training class, savings from the South were being added. "Amer First-day school. The goal was to pro fund, and flower mission (farmer Friends, icanization" became a theme of the war mote the highest morality and truest spir mostly from New Jersey, brought in fresh years as the Guild struggled to bring itual growth ofit s members. Friends Mis ly cut flowers to brighten the homes and together these diverse groups, organized sion No. 1 spent $183.73 in the first year, spirits of poor people). with other community groups for public and attendance was "moderate only." As More and more monthly meetings playgrounds and health services, and pon the first program of its kind along the became involved in Friends Neighbor dered the mission of the new settlement Pamela Haines, a member ofCentral Philadel hood Guild, contributing volunteers, house movement. In 1919 the entire staff phia (Pa.) Meeting, has been on the board of money, flowers, produce, books, and worked tirelessly through the flu epidem Friends Neighborhood Guild since 1995. Also a clothing; and in 1903 the first paid super ic as they visited homes trying to stem suf writer, some ofher essays appear at 14 May 2006 FRIENDS JOURNAL Recreation Takes Center first year. T he Depression brought an Stage, 1919-1943 increased demand for recreation, and also Work Projects Administration (WPA) Guild Firsts: Out of a belief that the neighborhood workers. The rapid influx of African would soon become entirely industrial, Americans also brought ongoing chal 1904: First juvenile probation officer the Guild shifted its focus after World lenges of program integration. in Philadelphia War I to boys, reasoning that they would In the late 1930s the Guild housed 19rr First Well Baby Clinic in Philadelphia travel further than any other group, and German refugees and cooperated with 1950: First redeveloper in the city (the wanting to rake advantage of the fine gym AFSC in urban workcamps. In 1936 it redevelopment project that became of the new building. As one of the first got its own board, separate from the quar Friends Housing Cooperative organizations to join the Welfare Federa terly meeting's Philanthropic Committee. tion (now United Way) in the early During World War II, the Guild opened involved the first use of FHA funds 19Q.Os, it also shifted its financial base a daycare center for children of working for integrated housing in the away from exclusive Quaker support. mothers, and staff played a key role in country) The focus on boys' clubs and recre ensuring that the new Richard Allen 1952: First residential urban renewal ation still left space for girls' programs, Homes public housing project would not program in the United States and the Well Baby Clinic and the Savings house defense workers but low-income 1956: First Puerto Rican Boy Scout troop Bank continued. Many enjoyed the grow families as originally planned. Quaker sup in Pennsylvania ing library and new wading pool, and port continued with gifts ofgoods, money, 1995: First Freedom School summer camp many other groups in the neighborhood time, Friends school visits, Christmas in Philadelphia used the facilities. In 1927 a dental clinic stocking projects, and the hosting ofsum opened, serving over 1,000 patients in its mer picnics by many monthly meetings. FRJENDS j OURNAL May 2006 15 Clockwise from top: youth weatherization program, 1990s; Freedom School summer camp, 2000s; a participant in the Freedom School Through the 1940s, Friends Neighbor Puerto Ricans. As the only community Poplar neighborhood. With AFSC, the hood Guild's only charter was the Seventh center in this divided neighborhood that Guild also developed a self-help housing Query of the Book of Discipline of welcomed people of color, the challenge project that became Friends Housing Philadelphia Yearly Meeting: "What are to include them fully in both program Coop, and the board was active on leg you doing as individuals and as a meeting and staff was soon traded for the challenge islative housing issues. to aid those in need of material help; to to maintain white participation. An influx With the acquisition of a new building assure equal opportunities in social and in the early 1950s ofSoviet displaced per at 8th and Fairmount Streets in 1956, economic life for those who suffer dis sons, especially Kalmuks from eastern Rus space was made available for a local arts crimination because of race, creed, or sia, increased ethnic diversity for a while. gallery and programs ofother Quaker set social class; to create a social and eco Along with the group work program tlements that had folded into the Guild nomic system which will so function as to that had become the backbone of the an expanded wood shop (Bedford Street) sustain and enrich life for all?" Guild-dubs, councils, English classes, and library (Child Welfare Committee). art, shop, ceramics, homemaking, teams, With the new public health clinics and Neighborhood Building social clubs, and house councils recreation facilities that the Guild had increased emphasis was put on neighbor worked so hard to establish in the neigh and Rebuilding: the Francis hood development. With the urban borhood, attention could be turned from Bosworth Years, 1943-1967 renewal movement of the mid-to-later providing healthcare and supervising 20th century, the Guild's neighborhood inner-city children at their gym and the After the war, the largest racial and eth was the first target for slum clearance and Quaker playgrounds at 4th and Arch nic groups in the neighborhood were Pol rehabilitation, and the Guild worked Streets and at Friends Select School. The ish, African American, Russian, Roman actively with city agencies for the total Fourth and Green building was sold in tan, and newly arriving Filipinos and planning and redevelopment of the East 1958, and services were expanded into r6 May 2006 FRIENDS jOURNAL From the Guild Archives, 1885-2004 Here among the poor and wayward ones is a age, and the variety of bathing suits, virtually all sing. There ore usually a few solos, too; o promising field of service for the uplifting of extemporaneous, is even larger. (1922) Russian folk song; on Irish lullaby; or Mrs. humanity and spreading of the truth as it has Morris, 94 years old, sings a ploy-song she been mode known to us. (1885) The Guild's thrilling basketball games, played night learned when she was o slave in South Carolina. after night, hove outrivoled the street corners and (1946) Readings and innocent games and amusements pool rooms, and, as a resuk, hundreds of growing ore provided, the aim being to offer attractions boys spend their leisure time with us in wholesome There ore exciting times ahead. Never before hot will keep the children off the streets and enjoyment. (1926) has social justice been the low of the land. give them happy evenings amid warmth, light, Helping it to happen ond to hove full meaning and refining influences. While no particular Summer registration tonight for the Camp-in-the will not always be comfortable, but the Guild effort is mode to teach sectarian views, the City. Mary was one of those we were afraid wouldn't and the people of our service area hove the chool aims to promote the highest morality and hove her nickel-pennies count in that family. The strength and commitment to keep at it. (1967) he truest spiritual growth of its members. father has cancer, the mother works in a grocery (1901) store, and Mary's the oldest of four. After Frances When you hove the opportunity to actually look filled out the cord, Mary put down six pennies she into the heart of the organization, you see We hove to turn hundreds of children away who hod tied in her handkerchief. Frances told her the people who do absolutely astonishing things with plead, often with tears in their eyes, to be token registration wos only five cents. "I know," Mary little in the woy of resources. If we brought all of in. (1907) answered, "but I wont to give one penny to the our staff into this room and turned out the Guild." I suppose that wos our biggest donation of lights, you would see the glow of shining hearts It would be hard to imagine a more interesting the year. (1944) where each of them was standing. (1990) group than that which assembles ot the baby clinic. The spirit of democracy is at once evident I need two jobs to manage. I work eight hours a The big assembly hall on the second floor hod as the mothers, some extremely poor and day at the mattress factory and I'ma track walker been transformed into a cafe, with intimate little others fairly well to do, some block and some ot the freight yards eight hours every night. .. . It round tables, a tasty spread, and a jazz group to hite, assemble together in the hall and isn't so hard now that I've stopped worrying. You die for. The young people who hod been taking exchange friendly greetings. (1913) see, I knowthe boys ore always at the Guild ... . I turns performing at on open mic downstairs come up during the breok--ond everyone bathing pool of Friends Neighborhood Guild, toke Tuesday for my night off because I love to do e embroidery. You know, since I left Mississippi three danced their hearts out. Miss Ruthie got the old Fourth and Green Streets, will officially open years ago, I haven't hod any women friends and fo lks out on the floor. Ten-yeor·olds danced with ~r the season at 3 PM today. Many children, now I hove. All week I look forward to Tuesday night parents, grandparents, and neighbors. Teens unable to wait, staged on unofficial opening of showed off their coolest moves. You could taste their own lost Saturday, when a Iorge number of when I con come to the Guild and sit and embroider and just talk with other women. (1945) the potential of a community center that got to girls and boys frolicked in the water for hours. the heart of what community is all about. Eleven nationalities ore represented among the The women sit and visit until half past one, and then (2004) little bothers, who range from 2 to 13 years of Miss Lee comes in and ploys the songs they want to the West Poplar neighborhood. With the Ludlow, an even poorer neighborhood imum participation of residents, followed highest concentration of public housing co the north. by the Black Power movement, the issue of in the city, the Guild worked closely with During these years the Guild helped local control at the Guild came to the fore. tenant groups. In 1989, the board made organize several neighborhood civic asso In 1968 the board bylaws were changed to the difficult decision to spin off its hous ciations and tenant councils, pioneered in allow 50-percent resident participation, ing work into what is now Friends Reha housing clinics and a TB eradication pro and community people were soon taking bilitation Program, to resolve the conflict gram for Puerto Ricans and other new active leadership. In this turbulent time of being both landlord and tenant organ immigrants (with information in 11 lan Quaker board members, staff, and volun izer, and focus more fully on youth and guages), and ran a pilot program to teers struggled to define their roles. social services. address juvenile delinquency with con The Guild became very active in com centrated social services. A major mile munity organizing issues, helping to lead stohe was the completion in 1967 of the campaign against the commuter tun The Guild of today, Guild House, a 91-unit apartment build nel, and working with welfare rights. At ing for the elderly, many of whom had the same time a multi-service center was 1989-present been displaced by the activity of the Rede opened in Ludlow to help Spanish fami New programs in the early '90s include velopment Authority. lies meet their basic needs while health an energy center, adult leadership devel programs, summer camps, youth pro opment, and city-funded social services Community Control, grams, and activity around gangs, drugs, for at-risk youth. Family and community and crime continued. development programs include fuel, rent, 1967- 1989 Guild House West, completed in 1979 and food assistance, energy and budget In the 1960s, with the War on Poverty to serve older and handicapped people, and Model Cities programs requiring max- helped bring other new construction to Continued on page 42 FRIENDS Jo u RNAL May 2006 I7 THE THREE GEMS by Bob Burnett A FAMOUS BUDDHIST PRAYER IS KNOWN AS THE THREE GEMS: I take refuge in the Buddha. I take refuge in the Dharma. I take refuge in the Sangha. In everyday terms this means, "I take refuge in the spirit of the Buddha, in his teachings, and in the Buddhist communi ty." I've always loved this prayer and, over the years, have often found myself silent ly repeating a Christianized version as I sit in my meeting. Like many Quakers I've been discour aged by the direction the United States has been taking over the past several years. However, as events have unfolded and the United States has invaded first Afghan istan and then Iraq, I've experienced a re newal of my activism, and an increased awareness that I have a role to play in defending democratic process. This has impacted my spiritual life, and my Quak tradition, there is a related notion that er practice has deepened. Recently, as I sit churches and meetinghouses provide in my meeting, I find myself silently re physical protection for those who must peating a version of the three gems that take refuge in times of crisis. was quite different from anything that I The idea of taking refuge is deeply contemplated in the past, he notion of taking spiritual refuge embedded in religious tradition, the his is an ancient human tradition. At first tory of Christianity, and the practice of I take refuge in the Spirit. this was physical refuge. A few years ago Friends. Yet, we do not often examine I saw the cave drawings at Font-de what we mean by this notion apart from I take refuge in the meeting. Gaume, near Les Eyzies in the Dordogne the idea of physical sanctuary. I believe I take refuge in democracy. valley in southwest France. Over 12,000 that there are three interlocking concepts. years ago, our ancient ancestors went Taking refuge in the Spirit is at the As I've reflected on this rewording, it deep into the Earth to find a place of heart of Quaker practice. When Friends has occurred to me that this Quaker ver sanctuary. They consecrated their retreat speak of seeking the Light, listening for sion of the three gems may provide solace with mystical drawings. the Inner Voice, they usually mean that to those who ask how they will endure the Since the ministry ofJesus, Christians they have a deep confidence that the Spir difficult period that the United States and have treated their churches as places of it speaks to them, individually. Early in the world are passing through. refuge where, at least for a brief interval, Quaker history, Margaret Fell spoke mov they can separate themselves from the ingly of individual revelation: "As you Bob Burnett is a writer, activist, and member of Strawberry Creek Meeting in Berkeley, Calif everyday world. No one who has visited have received the Light from Christ Jesus, FCNL published a pamphlet, Finding Safety in the great cathedral at Chartres can escape the fountain and fullness of all Light and an age ofTerrorism, based on a speech by him the notion that it provided a special sanc Life, so abide in the Light, dwell in the on September 11, 2003. Some of his political tuary for those who built it in the 12th Light, walk in the Light, have your being articles may be found at 18 May 2006 FRIENDS JoURNAL the Light, it is this concept-the notion whatever manner-from cooking and gar practice of individual Friends was subject that an individual can receive direct divine dening to sculpture and architecture.) The to the overview of the monthly meeting. instruction-that distinguishes Quakers creative process needs nourishment. When This has since become a central organiz from many other Christians who believe our inner artist is blocked, we can turn to ing theme of the Religious Society: In the that God, rather than speaking to indi the Light for a renewed sense of direction. words of Howard Brinton, "Individual viduals, speaks through the Bible or the In my experience, taking refuge in the guidance [is subordinated] to the sense of Church in the form of ordained ministry. Spirit is a process that is available through the meeting as a whole." The meeting Describing this seminal belief of Friends, out the week, whenever we pray or medi serves a normative function with regard to Rufus Jones observed, "The key that tate or take a break from the everyday the behavior of its members. "The Soci unlocks the door to the spiritual life world and ask for divine assistance. T his ety of Friends escaped anarchism because belongs not to Peter, or some other per notion ofour continued access to the Spir its members realized that [the Inward] son, as an official. It belongs to the indi it is referred ro throughout the Bible, as in Light was a super individual Light, which vidual soul, that finds the Light, that dis Psalm 71:1, "In thee, 0 Lord, do I put my created peace and unity among all persons covers the Truth, that sees the revelation trust: let me never be put to confusion. who responded to it." of God and goes on living in the demon Contemporary Friends experience the stration and power of it." guidance of the meeting in several differ Because of our belief in individual rev ent contexts. If we have a particular lead elation, Quakers find the Light or the ing, we can take this to Ministry and Spirit as a source of continuing informa Oversight; while this process is usually tion and strength. Many of us believe that reserved for membership, marriage, and, the Light helps us find our way in four during war times, draft counseling, any somewhat different situations: when we though the idea of taking participant in meeting can request that a are troubled, when we seek to do what is refuge in the Spirit is widely shared dearness committee be assembled to help right, when we seek to know the truth, among Friends, the notion of taking them sort through a particular life chal and when we seek inspiration. refuge in the meeting has, I think, some lenge or transition. In my experience, I Friends often talk of turning to the what less currency. Contemporary have asked for a clearness committee once Spirit when they are beset by personal tra Friends often see their meetings as places or twice; and I have, quite often, gone to vajl: for example, when there is a death of they go to on Sundays, and then have lit close friends within the meeting to seek someone dose, an illness, or a trying per tle contact with other Friends during the counsel. I've always been deeply nourished sonal experience. We pray, meditate, or rest of the week-unless, of course, they by the support offered on these occasions. otherwise wait on the Light, which brings happen to be a member of the Ministry both instruction and nourishment. and Oversight Committee. Sometimes we are beset by a problem An important development in the that is neither physical nor psychological, Religious Society of Friends was the but moral: what should we do in a partic notion that the meeting serves as a psy ular situation. Most of us encounter these chological container for individual lead concerns fairly frequently in our adult lives; ings. This mechanism was developed ear for example, a loved one has cancer and is ly in the history of the Religious Society · nally, there is the third of three gems ~ a painful slide to death. We ask our when some Quaker leaders engaged in raking refuge in democracy. Based upon selves: Should we honor their request to extreme acts; for example, John Perrot our belief that there is that of God in each b~ng a quick end to their suffering by stop used his "pastoral" position to gain favor participant, that the Spirit delivers Truth Pfg all forms of nutrition? Many Quaker with women, in effect arguing, "The indi through diverse voices, Quakers are men have faced a dilemma with regard to vidual Friend should act according to his blessed with a vital form ofdemocracy. We the draft. Should they cooperate with the own leadings no matter what others may don't talk about this very much, but it is military authorities or take the role of a hold, even if one's leadings are exactly the one of the distinguishing features of our conscientious objector? Should a woman opposite of the agreement of Friends." religious tradition. We practice both partic have an abortion? We seek the Light when This idiosyncratic religiosity verged on ipatory democracy in our practical affairs we face these or other moral travails. Christian anarchism; it took the Quaker in meetings for business, as well as spiritu Often in our lives we are challenged to mystical concept of direct experience of al democracy in our meetings for worship. know the truth. We are presented not God-standing in the Light-to an Political scientists make the distinction with a moral dilemma, but with a life extreme where it could be used to justify between two forms of democracy: partic challenge. Which of various possibilities any individual behavior. In Perrot's behav ipatory and representative. The former is represents the truest choice for us? Which ior, Quakerism careened toward Ranter the classic form of democracy practiced in opportunity speaks ro our authentic self? ism, the individualistic radical movement the golden age of Athens, where all citi Again, we seek the Light when we are of the era. zens deliberated and then voted. As large confronted with these dilemmas. In 1666, when Quaker leaders dis as the Roman Empire became, in its dem Finally, all artists need a source ofinspi cussed this problem, there was no central ocratic period it still practiced participa ration. (I'm using artist in the broadest structure guiding the various Friends tory democracy when citizens assembled sense, meaning all those who seek to meetings. In response, Quaker elders in the forum in Rome. In more recent demonstrate their individual creativity, in adopted the principle that the religious times, representative democracy has FRIENDS JOURNAL May 2006 19 become the Western norm, where citizens ed intermediaries. tradition of Friends, our connection to elect representatives who deliberate and The indirect consequence is that sea the formation of the United States, and vote for them in legislative bodies. soned Friends, over time, become aware the vitality ofour deep democracy, Quak Quaker meeting for business is one of of the value of being part of a society that ers are in a unique position to comment the few exercises in participatory democ is open to everyone, rich or poor, black or upon and, in many instances, to help safe racy that most people in the United States white, gay or straight, rigidly disciplined guard democracy in the United States. can experience. (Other examples are New or "loosely wrapped." The essence of our For many of us, this is, in fact, a spiritual England town meetings and well-man process is an understanding of the value process: we see ourselves caring for the aged corporate "brain-storming" ses inherent in deep listening to each mem sacred torch of freedom. sions.) Meeting for business exposes par ber of our community. This, I believe, At the heart of Quaker practice lie ticipants to the raw elements of democra gives us a visceral appreciation for partic these three gems. We take refuge in the cy, and, usually, imbues them with a new ipatory democracy, as time and again we Spirit, confident that we will be nourished appreciation of the vitality of the process. experience that an otherwise silent voice and guided in good times and bad. We The Quaker form of participatory democ holds the key that unlocks our delibera take refuge in the meeting, secure in the racy has several distinctive elements. tion and brings us to unity. belief that we will be counseled and sup There is an emphasis on what might be One of the many blessings that we ported. Finally, we take refuge in democ termed "deep" equality, because we be have as people in the United States is our racy, not only with our trust in the wise lieve so strongly that each person carries participation in democracy. When we process that guides the Religious Society that of God within, and we value indi hear talk of voting irregularities, or dirty of Friends, but in our faith that this is the vidual input to collective decision mak politics, it makes us fear for the continu best and fairest way to conduct human ing. For this reason, well-run meetings ance of the process that is so integral to the affairs, to find true wisdom, and to pro for business take great care to ensure well-being of our country. Because of the vide liberty and justice for all. D that diverse views are heard and, most importantly, that each participant is treat ed with dignity. Gandhi famously said about Satyagra ha, the philosophy of the force of peace that is at the heart of his conception of nonviolence, that its essence is the notion that the process is as important as the product. In other words, the way we do things is as important as the results them selves. This can also be said about the Quaker form of consensus practiced in meeting for business and throughout the Religious Society of Friends. We seek true unity in our deliberations, not mere numerical majority or even una nimity. The underlying ethic of deep equality provides the spiritual impetus to care for our process; thus, we seek to Afghani Schoolgirls unite, in our hearts, in common cause. On the road to school, a rush of young girls tarries. Because we take such care in our Someone-an intruder-wants to take their photograph. process, Quaker proceedings are noto The girls turn in the hot wind, frisky, bashful. riously-some would say maddening ly-slow. As one becomes familiar No meadow full of summer flowers is so lovely. with the ways of Friends, one learns to A few have flung arms over a companion's shoulder. live with this, and to trust that the Some cover their smiles modestly, and many giggle. sometimes tedious process will, in the Some are barefoot, as wind flutters their soft clothes. end, result in a much better product Walking on together, happy, expectant for wisdom, than if matters had been rushed. There is, I believe, a direct and indi The schoolgirls look up, leaming the enormous blue sky. rect consequence of learning the Eyes wide, they glimpse back at the official visitants Quaker process for reaching unity. The Who will soon forget how, in this dust, ruined world, direct consequence is that many of us Their faces were so beautiful, delicate, just blossoming. become skilled at facilitation and adept at mediation, which in the final analy -Luise van Keuren sis involves deep listening to all sides of Luise van Keuren is a member a difficult issue. Because of these skills, of Monongalia Meeting in Quakers are often sought out as trust- Morgantown, W\.'ll. 20 May 2006 FRIENDS JoURNAL have followed with interest the rise, born rabble-rouser, and, unlike me, FAST-FORWARD TO THE among U.S. churches, of scapegoat absolutely fearless. But I feel safer than I ing. Men who love men, women have in a long time. My driver's license at 21ST CENTURY. I who love women, women who last says under "sex": Female. I'VE GIVEN UP THE HIDING. emerge from the bodies of men, men who LGBTQ people and allies descend discover themselves to have been born upon the State Capitol Building to lobby I HAVE BEEN women, and children who have been for a bipartisan human rights bill that TRANSFORMED BEFORE born with indeterminate sex or gender would end discrimination on the basis of THE EYES OF MY FAMILY, have all been lumped together as the great sexual preference or gender identity and cause ofanything unpleasant or disastrous expression. A thousand of us march FELLOW WORKERS, happening in the world. around to the front of the Capitol, where AND FRIENDS. Joan ofArc was told by the Inquisition a few well-dressed senators and other that she would not be executed if she Wuld simply stop dressing as a man. She actually tried. On the morning of the third day, they discovered her, once again, dressed as a man. They remonstrated with her, representing to her, as any reasonable, The cross and the feeling jailer might, the horrors of living flesh peeling away in the flames, and even of the shameful nakedness that comes, before the eyes of the crowd, as clothing burns away. She would die, in the eyes of cuckoo'S EM the witnesses, an unclothed woman. "I cannot go back from wearing men's cloth by Risa Stephanie Bear ing," she told them. And the sentence was carried out exactly as they had described politicians will address the crowd. Across poses with her moms, one white, one it to her. the sidewalk stand about eight dour-look black, for an entire roll of pictures, her Some are less brave. We go in terror ing men, holding placards with slogans on smile growing more and more radiant our lives long for fear of being discovered them, shouting that God hates fags. with each click. to have hatched from the cuckoo's egg. I I feel moved to shake hands with a very I remember then the passage from the learned early on that if my parents found tall, quite handsome, well-dressed, beard prophet for whom one of my sons is me in my mother's dress, wearing her ed counter-demonstrator. "How do you named: "He hath shewed thee, 0 man, bracelets, necklace, earrings, and lipstick, do, sir?" He almost reaches for my hand, what is good; and what doth the Lord there would be trouble. then peers at me suspiciously. I have been require of thee, but to do justly, and to So I covered. Painfully and always awk on hormone replacement therapy and love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy wardly, but with massive will and atten electrolysis for two years, am wearing my God?" (Micah 6:8) And at that moment, tion-! played baseball, hunted, fished, best cranberry ribbed turtleneck, black I join hands with my queer sisters and sharpened knives, cleaned rifles, stripped elastic-waistband slacks, silver hoops. I'm brothers, and sing, weeping. outboard motors, cleaned game, punched sure I've got the voice right, roo. But This nation's government is now in the boys, teased girls, played football, carried something rips him off. Is it the big shoul hands of what should have been, at most, my books on one side instead of in front, ders? Hand size? Some aspect of posture? a tiny movement of malcontents, easily and parted my hair on the left. It was a "You, you .. . y-y-you're a sodomite!" shrugged off by thoughtful citizens, relief, later, that my Adam's apple came in, And he withdraws his hand. An abomi whether Christian or otherwise. Bur their my voice deepened, and my shoulders nation. Mustn't touch. ranks have swelled since the 1970s, while broadened. Now no one will ever know. I'm "Umm ... I don't think so, sir. I've been most of us were not paying attention. T he safe at last. married to the same woman for 28 years." core theorists of this movement are But he is gone already. He fades back known as Reconstructionists, Dominion ast-forward to the 21st century. into the tiny pack, glaring at the crowded ists, or Theonomists. The idea is to recon I've given up the hiding. From steps above me, shouting with redoubled struct Christianity as a vehicle for taking age 53 to age 55, I have been effort. over government so that God may have Ftransformed before the eyes of my And we go and stand with my people, dominion instead of man, by the reinsti family, fellow workers, and friends. gay, straight, trans, queer, and intersex: tuting of God's O ld-Testament moral Our daughter, who is 19, has moved grandmothers, infants, school children, laws (theonomy). The Old Testament is, back in. I take advantage of this by asking mothers, kids in purple hair, old men in for them, the proper law of the land, her to accompany me to a rally in the state their 70s and into their 80s. A couple of obliterating the Constitution and the capital for moral support. She's a natural- white-haired women standing near us United Stares Code, or the laws of any have been together for 40 years. One other country whatever, for their man Risa Stephanie Bear is a member of Eugene achingly beautiful child in a rainbow date, which they believe will bring the end (Oreg.) Meeting. dress, with rainbow ribbons in her hair, of history and the return of C hrist, is to FRIENDS jOURNAL May 2006 21 conquer the world. Law of following the Spirit, by faith, "What do Friends think about the Bible All this turns upon the interpretation hope, and charity. Paul, in the epistle to and gay people?" of a single Greek word: plerosai. It occurs the Galatians, goes to much trouble to What to say? "Judge not, lest you be in this passage: "Think not that I am explain this. Tossing aside 2,000 years of judged" is a little pat. come to destroy the law, or the prophets: Pauline exegesis, the Theonomist theolo I resort to a story of a story. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill gian R. J. Rushdoony, founder of the "Well, dear, people used to crowd [plerosai]. For verily I say unto you, till Chalcedon Institute, declares that plerosai around the country rabbi and ask him heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tit means "establish" or "confirm"-even about this stuff. Some of them were hot tle shall in no wise pass from the law, till though this is not how it is used elsewhere shot lawyers whose job was to know all all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall in the Christian Scriptures. the proof texts, so the power structure break one of these least commandments, For the Theonomist, the moral (but, sent them to hang out in the crowds and and shall teach men so, he shall be called oddly, not the ceremonial) law of Moses see if they could trip him up on his teach the least in the kingdom of heaven: but shall be applicable to all the land in per ings and get him arrested for stirring up whosoever shall do and teach them, the petuity. If they get their way, I will be the people. same shall be called great in the kingdom stoned to death as an abomination. "So this dude, who's trained all his young life in laws of Moses, stands up and says, 'Hey! Rabbi! What do I do to get to live forever?' '"What does your Book say about that?' replies the rabbi from the boondocks. "So the lawyer says: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and, 'Love your neighbor as yoursel£' "That's right,' says the rabbi. 'If you do that you'll live forever.' "Everybody's standing around, looking at these two, and thinking, uh-huh, the quick-thinking traveling preacher has got the big shots by the beard again. "So the lawyer looks around, sees peo ple grinning at him, and so he sticks out his lower lip and spreads his hands in a kind of apologetic shrug. "'Sure, but that's just it. Who exactly is my neighbor?' "The rabbi looks him over. The kid is bright, he's moving up through the infra structure, but he seems to mean well too. Might be worth saving. "Tell you what. Sit down a minute, I've got a story for you.' Everybody moves in close to hear the story. '"There's this traveling salesman, kind of a Willy Loman type, puts up a load of shoes or whatever on his donkey to sell down at Jericho. On the way there, in the middle of nowhere, a bunch of local guys relieve him of his stock, his gear, his trans portation, his clothes, and his last water borde, and beat him senseless for good measure. Then they clear out, leaving him there for the vultures to find. ofheaven." (Matt. 5:17-19) we drive home, using fossil '"Afi:er awhile, along comes a priest. He Christian scholars in general translate els of course, in the uncharac sees the guy lying there, not moving, cov this as folfill, and talk about the Christian ristically hot winter sunshine, ered with, by this time, dried, caked Scriptures as the rule for Christians N y daughter asks about the blood. He's not a bad person, the priest; (hence New Testament) and replacing the apparent belief system of the men who had he'd go over and check the situation out, outer Mosaic Law-by-rules with an inner shouted at us to "go back in the closet." but he has responsibilities-spelled out in 22 May 2006 FRIENDS jOURNAL detail in Leviticus-to the people up in hop away as the Samaritan dude walks Jerusalem. If he handles this person, he'll over to check out the body. He discovers DESPITE THE RAIN have to touch the blood-and/or the signs of life, rolls the salesman over, gives nakedness of another man-and that him a drink of water, pulls off his own means he won't be able to do his job, cloak and wraps him in it-blood all over At dusk, the rain arrives because he'll have been polluted. So he it by now-loads him on his Samaritan on hushed feet, except crosses the road and passes by, maybe sweat-bedewed donkey-maybe has to for the oc:casionolleaf that weeps making a mental note to call 911 when he leave behind some of his own load, I for gets to town. get-and slowly and carefully, falling far '"Nothing happens for awhile, and the ther and farther behind on his own sched and weeps and weeps. vultures are starting to pay attention. But ule as he does so, because there's a really The cricket so present on~ a breath ago, then here comes this other guy. He's a broken-up man saddlebagged across his grown tired of repetition lawyer, ofcourse, just like you [significant donkey's back, and the road's rough has flown. glance; crowd chuckles], and again, a takes him to the next little town down the good person with duties and responsibili way. Right about sunset he pulls up out ties and musm't get polluted--can quote side the local roadhouse, unloads the still Hidden, res~ess, thoughts you chapter and verse verbatim on the half-conscious victim from the donkey spotter to earth, separate things that God has required of him in and carries him in, and asks the manager indistinguishable. Somewhere serving the people properly. There are real for a bath, hot meal, and a bed for him.' a k~ler ~ants a bomb and runs. penalties for goofing this up, so he, too, "'Look here, man,' says the Samaritan crosses the road and moves along, a little to the manager, 'I'm really running Maybe he looks like me. Rain curb faster, maybe, thinking about making that behind now, so I gona keep going.' Here his hair around his ears. same 9 11 call. he hands him his credit card. '-Just run He shivers against the wet. "'So he's been gone awhile, and the a tab on him while I'm gone, and when I sun's getting really hot now, and the first make my return run, I'll settle up with couple of vultures are hopping toward the you. Cool?' At home, his mother turns body, and now a third guy shows up. Cool But don't let's shake on it, the man in her sleep, the undreamed "%1y idea who?' ager might say with his eyes. about to happen. He soys "Here the lawyer shakes his head. Peo "'Kay,' says the rabbi, standing up and he does it for God. ple in the surrounding audience turn to brushing off his robe a bit, looking one another, raise their eyebrows, make a around at the crowd, then returning his few suggestions to one another, shake their piercing gaze to the young lawyer. 'Of Yesterday, three ministers met heads as well, some of them shrugging. these three, which one was a neighbor to adamant on naming the sins of gays "'Well, as luck would have it, he's from the shoe salesman?' as if God has time for Samaria.' "The lawyer looks up at him. He can't petty obsessions. Maybe "Here a collective groan rises up from even bring himself to use the word that they look like me. They stand blinded all the rabbi's hearers. T hey should have names the abomination. 'The .. . the ... known; they can see where the story's the one that was kind to him,' he says, by the glare of klieg lights, going now, and almost nobody's happy reluctantly. a reporter's voice monotonous with it. Samaritans, like lobsters, infants "The rabbi gives him that unsetclingly against the rain, loud born out of wedlock, shrimp, nocturnal kindly smile he's famous for. 'That's right,' as a drum, on a metal roof. eJtlissions, compound interest, lepers, he says, sofrly. 'Do just like him, and you fried rattlesnake, men with crushed testi will live forever."' cles, bacon bits, camels, bloody victims, Down the street a woman sleeps. menstruating women, rock badgers, hares, y daughter has been watch a brown hand stretches awake. sea urchins, octopi, homosexuals, and ing the roadside pass by. The Soon she will pull a dress over her head dead cows, are, of course abominations. sun's going down, setting yellow as a sunflower. Maybe Meaning: God can't abide 'em, and so pink fire to the mountains M it is me. Despite the rain, neither can the Chosen People. You don't on our left, and there are flocks of Cana marry a Samaritan, eat with a Samaritan, da geese gliding down to the rivers and she carries her head high. pray with a Samaritan, sleep with a Samar lakes all around. I'm not sure, at first, that itan, give the time of day to a Samaritan, she's been listening. To look into any raindrop, sir down to a cup of tea with a Samaritan, Still watching the geese, she reaches or even read a book by a Samaritan if you across from the passenger side and takes is to see myself. can possibly help it-because, although myhand. 0 they are not Jewish, they insist on wor -Lynn Martin shiping the Jewish God but haven't got the rituals and such down right, and so Lynn Martin is a member ofPutney {Vt.) Meeting. can't possibly get into heaven. "So the rabbi continues: 'The vultures FruENDS J OURNAL May 2006 23 THE LORD'S PRAYER by Alicia Parks In February 2005, FRIENDS jOURNAL spoken in Aramaic, recorded in Greek, surrogate mother. published an article by Paul Buckley, and read by me in English. The meta Be all that as it may, however, when I "Owning the Lord's Prayer, "in which he phors that shaped Jesus' mind included hear this line it just sounds like saying some offered his rewording ofit in an attempt to angels, devils, benign monarchs, and a one's name before starting an important make the prayer his own, and then invited patriarchal God who had a lot less respect discussion, to ensure that they are listening. the reader to do likewise. Since then for the laws of physics than the God most When I pray alone, I address God my FRIENDS jOURNAL has published several of us grew up with. In general I have tried usual way: Mama. to find other metaphors; but there is an When I have used this prayer with oth responses ftom readers in the Forum (two image I use with impunity: the Kingdom ers, I remove gender from the equation letters in April2005, p. 47; one in May, of God. Sexist and hierarchical though it altogether with: pp. 4-5, and one in june, p. 42.) Here is may be, when I use it I feel like part of a another, more detailed response. Paul's community that transcends time, all unit Hey God, I know you are listening. original article may be viewed in foll in ed to bring it into being. the archives ofback issues on the FRIENDS Beyond any problems of grammar or Hallowed be thy name jOURNAL website, www..friendsjournaLorg. vocabulary, however, this is the prayer of In Jesus' time, the name of God was - Eds. a peasant 2,000 years ago who didn't know equivalent to the person of God. Here we where his next meal was coming from and are asking that God's name and thus ome time ago I undertook an in who lived under the boot-heel of the God's self will be treated as holy. As with depth study of the Lord's Prayer, for biggest empire in the world. I am overfed, other pecitions of the prayer, the grammar Smuch the same reasons as Paul overeducated, and live in the boot-heel of is ambiguous. Although it is unlikely to be Buckley: I wanted something that meant the biggest empire in the world. I have a simple assertion that "we here think you more to me. The deeper I got, the more tried to bridge that gap by trying to get are special," it could be if one added the complicated-and rich-everything got. into Jesus' head, to find the thoughts that implication that we will act accordingly Possible meanings branched off endlessly, were behind his words, so that I could (see Isaiah 29:23). After all, the modern and each permutation of meanings struck imagine what he would say to us under Hebrew term for "martyrdom" translates my soul like a gong hit in its sweet spot. I such vastly different circumstances. literally as "sanctification of the Name." It had to include each one. This destroys the could also be asking God to earn our refreshing terseness that was probably part respect by acting more Godlike, which of Jesus' point. (The Amidah prayer, Our Father in Heaven would link it to the next line. which was probably in use in some form The "in Heaven" part is not in Luke's I have different ways of translating this at Jesus' time, covers many of the same version, and it is a phrase that Matthew line, depending on how bossy I feel: issues but in much more flowery lan adds frequently-concerned, I suppose, guage.) In exchange, however, I have that otherwise we might not get the refer we will restore the honor ofyour name something that speaks directly to my soul. ence. The "father" is famously the word by doing your wilL When I pray it, taking a minute or so for Abba that Aramaic-speaking children used each line, I feel that God and I have truly to address their fathers, but adults used it May your name regain the respect it communicated. as well. While many ancient Jewish deserves. Although I have tried to put the Lord's prayers begin with a formal "Our father," we look forward to the time when the Prayer into my own words, I necessarily Jesus is unusual in using the more direct holiness have to begin with the words Jesus used: and thus more intimate "Father" in many OfGod's being will be universally places throughout the New Testament. acknowledged Alicia Parks is a second-semester graduate stu Although it is often implied that peo dent at Boston University School of Theology studying to do-she writes- "rabble-rousing ple need to address God in the context of we need you to act like a God,· disguised as adult religious education. " She is a an earthly relationship with which they Stop letting evil persist. longtime attender of Sandy Spring (Md.) have good associations, that has not been Meeting. She occasionally attends Friends Meet my experience. I have a good relationship Holiness has the addicional meaning of ing at Cambridge (Mass.), and is also exploring with my father, but as a young adult, I had "set apart." At first I rebelled against the judaism. a tense one with my mother. God was my idea of segregating God from the rest of 24 May 2006 FRIENDS JoURNAL reality, bur then 1 remembered sugges ence would forbid it. Also Jesus (directly the New York Srock Exchange, working tions to dedicate time for prayer, so that it after the prayer, in Matthew) urged us not to maintain my lifestyle-a lifestyle that I does not get crowded out ofour busy lives. to worry about what we will eat or wear, don't want but can't seem to break out of This was a "separation" 1 could handle. but to seek the Kingdom of God and all These soul-sucking entanglements of those things will be given to us also; so it modern society keep us from doing what ~ make space for you in our lives and, feels right to keep God in the picture of God has in mind for us, and this is defi Together with others, my material well-being. nitely something worth praying about. to WOrk make space for you in the world. My thoughts on this were helped by a conversation with my meeting's graveyard Support us in our struggles against Thy Kingdom come, thy will be committee clerk, who has vicarious post obligations to oppressive institutions traumatic stress disorder from all the old that destroy the Spirit, done, on Earth as it is in As we struggle to avoid behaviors that he:tven. gravestones for children. He sees health care as the modern equivalent of Jesus' would ensnare others in their grasp. my mind, this whole phrase is one 1r concern for access to basic food. part with one meaning. For the ancients, The debt issue not withstanding, there This line presents a major translation heaven was a separate realm where God is a lot of run-of-the-mill forgiveness with difficulty. With most words in the Greek was more visibly in charge and things which I could definitely use God's help. Gospels, we can pin down the meaning worked the way they were supposed to. I by comparing many uses of the word both Help us to feel open-hearted love for don't have to believe that heaven is "up" to in and our of the Gospels. Not so with the others and to forgive their failures wish that things were more like that word usually translated as "daily," which andfalse steps, around here. As is common for Jewish church fathers were arguing about almost So that we can release the guilt and prayers, Jesus began with only-by-the as soon as Luke and Matthew were writ resentment that bind us, and begin power-of-God matters and then moved ten. My favorite interpretation is "the our relationships anew. on to issues on a more human scale. bread of tomorrow," in the manna-like Only then will we be able to receive love T his has the same grammar problem as sense of "the bread we are going to eat andforgiveness from you and from the last. Was Jesus asking God to get seri when the Kingdom comes and we sit others. ous1 to live up to God's hype? That we down at God's table," which Jesus was huTans start living under the rules of the The "open-hearted love" and "relation continually pre-enacting. Ki9gdom of God previous to God's ship anew" lines here have nothing to do T he idea of asking for a sample of the action? That God somehow make us do with my linguistic or historical research. Kingdom of God upfront spoke to me, that? Or perhaps there is no implied They are simply there because I know that since hope is as rare and precious now as in agent, just a statement that we hope it that is the only way I can hope to ever feel Jesus' time. As the overall focus of this happens soon. love of neighbor for all the obstinate peo prayer is the corning of the Kingdom, it The later petitions, however, are ple in my life, as is the slight restatement isn't a stretch to involve this line as well. explicitly command tense, and the prayer of the causal relationship. The concerns need not be in opposition: if is followed in Luke with parables instruct everyone has enough to eat, that probably ing us to hector God into giving us what means the Kingdom of God has arrived. And lead us not into temptation we need, so it seems likely that this line (or lead us not into the time of has the same tone. This makes me squirm, Provide for our human needs partly because it seems rude, but mostly And strengthen us with regular glimpses trial) because the God I believe in is not omni Ofa world made in your image. But deliver us from evil (or the potent, and I feel ridiculous demanding Evil One) thaf The Force swoop down with a Shaz Forgive us our sins, as we With all these possibilities listed in the zart)., demanding the impossible-but forgive those who sin against us. foomotes of most Bibles, the list of possi then, Jesus wanted to thrust us out of our This is literally, "forgive us our debts, ble translations for this line is accordingly comfort wnes. I have compromised with: as we forgive our debtors." In Aramaic, longer. To see what Jesus may have meant Make manifest to the world a vision of the word "debt" was used as a synonym by "the time of trial," look at Exodus. God your perfect foture, for sin, but since bankruptcy and foreclo is forever testing the wanderers' faith, and So that all may begin to work for its sure were endemic in that time and place, they fail every single time, choosing apos realization. Jesus likely also meant it literally. I had to tasy over the Covenant. Whether this says struggle to make this meaningful to me. If more about God's learning curve or that Give us this day our daily bread my house were in fact being foreclosed of the Israelites I really couldn't say. I worked on this for quite a while on, my hesitation to ask God for materi Sympathy for the ancient worldview is before I finally decided to drop any men al things would surely and properly evap especially crucial for this line. Many times tion of bread. I have rarely had any con orate, but this is not the case. in the first books of the Bible, God is cern about where my next meal was com Broadening our focus, however, I assumed to be responsible for some truly ing from and I don't want to waste God's began to catch a glimpse of something horrible things. God's omnipotence was time on it. I didn't want to ignore that side very meaningful. As a citizen of the paramount in the psychology of the time, of things altogether; simple solidarity with Empire, I owe debts to all sorts of unsa even when this interfered with God's good the modern equivalent to Jesus' real audi- vory institutions, from the U.S. Army to ness. This had come into question by Jesus' FrukNDS JouRNAL May 2oo6 25 time, but not nearly so much as today. Some people take comfort in the fact that the Greek word for sin is the same word used for miss ing the mark in archery, but "sin" makes the most sense to me as "an action that hinders rather than fos ters the enactment of the Kingdom of God." As a translation of the usual interpretation-a request for assistance in resisting temptation to sins of the flesh, abuse of power, etc., with which I could use as much help as anyone else-1 carne up with: Free us .from our attraction to Sin and unrighteousness. Be a light shining on our paths, that we may choose The way ofrighteousness, And especialry that we may correctry understand Your will and vision. But I felt that this did not exhaust the meaning of the line. For me, this line links back to "thy kingdom come." We aren't asking for a delay in the Kingdom, just some help gerring through the lead-up to it, either by strengthening our spines or by granting us the sort ofexemption given to the Israelites in the last plague (Exodus 12). Even the Bible, with its Shaz zam theology, does not imagine those who benefit from the present oppressive order politely stepping aside and the world being instantly restored to the conditions of the Garden ofEden . No, recreating the world in God's image is going to be a long and dan gerous slog, with the forces of darkness desperately struggling to hold on to power. Interestingly, the Uke as a child I come word translated as "trial" can also mean "despair." And a~hough Ihave not mastered these new feet so I also pray: and may trip, sprawling, Hold back the colkJpse ofcivilization while we, foryour loving lih With others, work to make it unnecessary. to greet. And ifit should come in our lifetime Keep us .from being swept out to sea, But keep us doing your work, Uke as a child Irun Even when it seems hopeless, or in the face of with eyes fixed solely on your laughing face, persecution. trusting you'll stoop to clasp in low embrace For thine is the Kingdom and the Power my faith. and the Glory, forever and ever. It is very doubtful that these are actually Jesus' words, but it is such a lovely sentiment that I can't Uke as a child Ifly bring myself to care. and caught, You swing me free of solid earth For this last bit, I have settled upon a feminist in spinning flight (Ima is "marna") and universalist (Olarn is "world" or to find rebirth is simply "universe") adaptation of Deuteronomy 6:4: "Hear hanging on. 0 Israel, YHWH is God, YHWH is one." (Alterna tive monikers for God could be Shikhena-the holy spirit, literally, "she who dwells among us"--or the - Charles A. Wtlugaman traditional "Adonai," Lord.) In my words it is: ~ acknowledge your supreme ckJim over all that is. You are our onry leader. Charles A. Waugaman lives in jamaica, Vt. Shema OkJm, lma Elohenu, lma Ekhad. 0 May 2006 FRIENDS J OURNAL • WITNESS NEWfOWN FRIENDS Of Faith and Boots SCHOOL by Wendi White am a mother with rwo young boys, a ules to volunteer, resources to pay the bills, job, and meeting responsibilities in addi and connections to other groups would l tion to other volunteer work. So when come. And though there were moments of another Friend mentioned to me after our doubt, like the point when we had no venue meeting's Thanksgiving potluck in 2004 that three weeks before the exhibit's opening, AFSC's Eyes Wide Open exhibit would be "Ask and you shall receive" proved itself to "The accomplishments of adults swinging through Texas and shouldn't it stop be sufficient. begin as the dreams of children. in Austin, I thought, "Oh no, here comes the On a foggy February morning in 2005, the Newtown Friends is a place ask." I instinctively prepared myself to say no. soldiers' boots and civilians' shoes finally hit where dreams begin." My life was too busy, my family responsibili the ground in Austin. Afrer such an exercise in - NFS Mission Statement ties too demanding; moreover, the holidays faith, I was unable to wait until the exhibit's were upon us. No sane woman would agree to opening to see them, so I drove by on my way organize a public event in three months under to work. The boxes of boots and shoes lay such circumstances. stretched across a field looking like coffins in Pre-K to Grade 8 But almost as if I were suddenly in the the mist. The sheer length of the row stunned audience at a movie, I saw myself pause as the me. The number of volunteers who answered For~erinfonnation, Friend explained how she would be out of our call and were now unpacking the boxes call215-968-2225, or visit town and couldn't organize it herself. I amazed me. As the fog burned away, a simple us at newtown.friends.org thought about the war and how its reality was grass hill was being transformed into a ceme being hidden from us. I thought about how tery. I stopped my car and cried. much I needed some way to make meaning Eyes Wide Open is powerful. It speaks out of the death and destruction confronting directly to our shared humanity, cutting IJCCMJ4ed lut tk p~ IJ~ ~ me each day in the morning newspaper. Then through the walls of party, age, religion, or P~ IJcxulemic Sci-U I watched as the most powerful word in the political position. Faced with the intimate per world escaped from my lips, "Yes. " Yes, I sonal reality of these empty boots and shoes, would help. Yes, I would convene a commie the tragedy of each Life lost can no longer be tee. Yes, we could raise the $2,000 and 200 denied. Reading the notes left by loved ones, volunteers needed in a month and a half right seeing a teddy bear or a flag or flower poking Year of: after the holidays. "Go ahead," I heard myself out of such standard military issue, is jarring. SPIRIT& say, "cell them to come." These weren't just soldiers; they were people Guilford For the next six weeks, I barely thought with fam ilies like mine. The small sneakers COLLEGE SPIRITUALITY about the 1,400 empty soldiers' boots and representing Iraqi children could be my chil • 1,000 civilians' shoes making their way co dren's shoes. These little ones must have run Congratulations to our Austin. Consumed with staging Christmas, I and climbed in them like my boys do, and graduating had no choice but co crust that what was need now they are empty. Quaker Leadership Scholars! ed for the exhibit would fall into place come I took my children with me later that the New Year. But such easy faith was soon day to walk among the rows of shoes and Quaker Educarion Since 1837 Admission Office tested with the end of the season and the sud boots. We mourned with business folk dressed 5800 WeSt Friendly Ave • Greensboro, NC 27410 den round-the-dock ringing of my phone. in suits from downtown, Vietnam veterans 336-316-2100 • 1-800-992-7759 • FAX 336-316·2954 We needed a location. We needed a meeting. wearing POW caps, and college students. www.guilford.edu We needed money and hundreds of volun Tears flowed freely as we bene to note the teers-yesterday! ages and hometowns of the dead. Some of At this point in a project, I usually have a the fallen were just a decade older than my feeling of rising anxiety that everything oldest son. I was deeply grateful to feel my G depends on me. But I was somehow more boys' warm hands in mine. As I gave into centered with this event and a different grief, I finally came to understand why I had F approach arose. I felt fairly free of worry. said yes to that Friend on Thanksgiving Day. When things began to wobble, I returned O nly those who weep and mourn know s to my initial sense of clarity that the Spirit the true cost of war. Denying ourselves the would provide what we needed-way would space and time to feel our grief paralyzes us. Germantown Friends School open. I did not have to "make it happen." All Allowing ourselves to plumb the senselessness (215) 951-2345 the committee and I had to do was keep of war releases us to act for its end. I had Please come to our Open Houses: asking for help. People with the right sched- said yes because there is deep truth in those • Oct. 1, Saturday, 2-4 p.m. (rrgistmtio11 ends at 3 p.m.) words spoken long ago on a hill not that far • Nov. 11, Friday, 8:30a.m. Wendi White is a member of Austin (Tex.) from today's battlefields: "Blessed are those • May 19, 2006, Fridm;, 8:30a.m. Meeting. who mourn." 0 FRlENDS j OURNAL May 2006 27 • REFL E CTIONS small voice, pillar of fire, burning bush. bring them into perfect knowledge of itself. I Was Blind, If! remain spiritually blind, my perception So the men are stuck in their predicament and of God will be limited to that aspect I imme must do the best they can. diately encounter. Even if I suspect there Not so with the Living God. 0 But Now I See may be more than I'm able to perceive, the best I can hope for is to believe in my broth Paul Landskroener is a member ofTwin Cities by Paul Landskroener ers' and sisters' descriptions of their experi Meeting in St. Paul, Minn. ence, somehow synthesizing their descriptions any are familiar with the Indian into my own peculiar image of God. T he fable of the blind men and the ele result is an idea-called God- that would M phant, immortalized by the Fritz be subjective, idiosyncratic, and, if I am hon How Do You Eichenberg woodcut that was on the cover of est, tentative. FRIENDS j OURNAL in March. The story is of a And, quire likely, inaccurate. group of blind men who are led to an ele If this is all I have, how can I testify with Recognize a phant. Each grabs one part of the animal power and confidence about what God has leg, trunk, tail, body, ear, tusk-and describes done for me (and for you)? T he accuracy and Divine the elephant in terms of the part he is holding: persuasive power of my testimony would an elephant is like a tree trunk, or like a snake, depend on the reliability of the testimony of or rope, wall, banana leaf, spear. This causes others, none of whom I can unqualifiedly Revelation? the men to argue about the true nature of an vouch for, and about some of whom I may elephant, each insisting on his own perception as have serious doubts. How could I, a blind guy by Bruce Kellogg the only true description. feeling an elephant's leg, ever accept without We smile at the silliness of the argument reservation that the thing I am encountering o years ago, Baltimore Yearly Meet and usually describe the moral of the story as had any resemblance whatsoever to a rope or ng published a booklet, A Quaker being about the importance of respecting a banana leaf? esponse to Christian Fundamentalism, diverse points of view, that no one has all the But if! learn how to see, my knowledge of nwhich described beliefs typical of fundamen answers, that it's important to be humble and God will be immediate, personal, and authen talists and evangelicals, and compared them to open to other ideas. tic. It would be a living knowledge of the Liv beliefs typical of Quakers. The author, Sallie B. But behind those superficial lessons are ing God upon whom I can stake my life. And King, points our, among other things, that two more profound lessons implicit in the the knowledge would not be mine alone: I'd while fundamentalists believe divine revela premises of the story. share it with all the others who once were tion is ended and to be found complete in the First, the only reason that the men blind but now can see. Bible, Quakers believe that revelation is ongo argued with each other was that they were There is one crucial difference between ing and is available to any who wish to open blind. If they could see, they would have blind men encountering an elephant and a themselves to it. each realized instantly that the elephant had human being searching for an encounter with Some of my colleagues, looking through many characteristics at the same time, and the Living God. The elephant is utterly indif the book, picked up on the Quaker belief. what those characteristics are. They would still ferent towards its perceivers (and is likely to They asked: How do you know when you are have different vantage points, and no one of stomp on or gore them if they're not careful). experiencing a divine revelation and not sim them would see all of the elephant at the The elephant doesn't have the power, or ply thinking your own thoughts? How do you same time, but they would each actually see desire, to cure them of their blindness or to tell the two apart? the elephant as a single, integrated living In pondering a response I came to feel being. The man standing behind the ele that, in identifying a message of the Holy phant might not be able to see a tusk, but Spirit, it might be dearer to speak of a range he would have all the context he needed of intensity and frequency in how we experi for his brother's description of the tusk to ence the Light, rather than trying to make an make perfect sense and enrich his already either/or distinction. accurate understanding of the elephant. Sometimes, as in the case of Saul's experi The first lesson, then, is that ifi want ence on the road to Damascus, or George to know what an elephant is like, I must Fox's vision on Pendle Hill, the recipient can wake up, open my eyes, throw off my not doubt who the author is. blindness, and see for myself. Ifwe take that dear, unforgettable voice as the The second lesson is that there is rarer, high intensity end of the range, then the indeed an elephant! The story only more frequent, middle range might be the makes sense if the men are feeling and enhanced clarity in thinking about an issue, or ~ describing something that actually the deeper sensitivity in a relationship, that aris ~ exists-it isn't a figment of their imagi es out of sustained contemplation and worship. Jj nation-and that it is all the same object. At the most frequently experienced, low Jl So it is when in my blindness I sturn intensity end of the range we might discover .~ ble into an encounter with the Living a new awareness to a problem, the first t.E God. My first perception may be of a promptings of a concern, or we might be ~ particular characteristic or attribute of moved by a sympathetic resonance to anoth ~ God: creator, liberator, comforter, judge, er's shared message. @ lawgiver, mother, father, shepherd, still One way to consider the origin of our 28 May 2006 FRJENDS JoURNAL thoughts, at this level, is to see where they take us. The leadings of the Light are purposeful; like a plant, they develop if we nurture them with time and thought. They are positive; they enhance our spiritual growth and develop ment as we make room for them; and even *All graduates accepted to college rually they bring us to some action or a *Self-directed, lifelong learning changed state. T he question then arises: If I am now *3:1 student-to-teacher ratio clearer on recognizing the promptings of the *Shared work program Holy Spirit, how do I respond to them? Mes *Organic g11rden and fa1·m sages shared in meeting are a very important parr of the meeting for worship. Bur although *Supportive and divers!? community many messages are shared, I believe even more *Laptop computer program messages are intended, at least initially, just for *Daily Coll ection, weekly the recipient. It might rake some time, even years, to work our the full implications of one. Meeting for Worship Or a prompting might be shared with a particular person; or even nor spoken at all, bur shared by means of a closer relationship or different behavior. To feel hesitant to speak may be an indica tion that the message needs more contempla tion. A dearer indication of the need for reflec ti<;m may be that the thought is convoluted and lengthy, or contains anger or hostility. On the other hand, clarity and conciseness, and the absence of rancor, are good indica tions ofa "seasoned" message. The urge to share, I believe, is a part of divine guidance and grows along with our understanding of the leading. In meeting for worship we receive a shared 11'\essage largely in the spirit in which it is giv eq, so polish is nor an issue, and it is surpris ing how pertinent the message can be to so many. But one may feel diffident about speak ing, nevertheless. A Friend once mentioned he felt embar rassed when he recalled some of the earliest messages he had shared in meeting. In responding, it seemed ro me that one might compare those messages to an artist's portfolio of drawings. Rather than disparage his earlier efforts as unrutored or lacking in skill, one can se~ by them how much progress the artist has made since then in conveying an image. Sometimes in the act of speaking we attain clarity; or perhaps the message achieves clari Dynamic community, enriching lifestyle! ty as we express ir, since we are not the drivers Beautiful arboretum setting - Superior health & wellness services of this process, bur rather the messengers. And so our reticence is cleared away as we open 04rselves to the Divine Presence. Being attentive to the Light, being ready to listen, still requires a lor of effort on my part. Being clearer on what I am listening to is help ful. The rest will work itself out, as way opens. Bur I appreciate the questions my colleagues MEDFORD LEAS raised as they prompted me to consider some ~ A nationally accredited, Quaker-related. not-for-profit community aspects of worship more closely and then to ~ for older adults. with campuses in Medford and Lumberton. New Jersey. put my thoughts into words. 0 Bruce Kellogg attends Friends Meeting ofWash Call Boo.:n1 .4.3 o:..! or\ 1s1t our \lt'b silt': \1\1\1 .mt'dfordleas.org ington (D. C). FRIENDS j OURNAL May 2006 29 • ANALYSIS Quaker Truth-Seeking and the "Unitary Presidency" by Nancy Milio citizens, many of us in the U.S. are ham Amendment) strips courtS from hearing Quakers in several states are aware of being uncomfortable with a president who most Guanranamo lawsuits contesting deten secretly surveilled by the FBI for peaceful A claims powers chat place him above tion and abusive treatment: "No court, justice, dissent of the wars and the education of the law, even the Constitution, and immune or judge shall have jurisdiction ro hear or con young people about nonmilitary options fo r from both judicial and Congressional over sider" petitions, effectively permitting use of their future. sight, even during the perpetual "Global War torture-derived evidence in the military com Seeking the Balance of Powers on Terror." President George W Bush's justi missions. Ir thus nullifies the habeas corpus The gradual distortion of power balance fication, in the words of the Justice Depart right of persons under U.S. jurisdiction (Arti has been contested by civil sociery groups and ment, is chat: "The Constitution vestS in the cle 1, Section 9 and three AmendmentS). The individuals. Several major cases are reaching President inherent authority. ... Congress can- Supreme Court had previously ruled chat fed the new, more conservative Supreme Court, not extinguish chat auchoriry.... [He is] jus- eral courtS had jurisdiction over "enemy com which will go far in determining the extent of tified in taking measures which in less troubled batantS" in Guantanamo because it is a U.S. presidential power. conditions could be seen as infringementS of site; it also held chat military commissions vio One such case is chat of Salim Ahmed individual liberties." This rationale covers use late the Geneva Conventions by denying pris Hamdan, a Yemeni who has challenged the of severe interrogation; trying accused terror oners the same legal protections as any U.S. Guantanamo military commissions. An istS before military commissions; unlimited court-martial. appeals court ruled he could challenge deten detention of "enemy combatantS," including In his signing statement, President Bush tion. The Supreme Court will decide whether U.S. citizens; secret "rendition" ro overseas pris asserted power to waive habeas corpus. This it has jurisdiction to proceed or whether Con ons, and warrantless domestic eavesdropping. again broke his promise to allow 150 detention gress, in the Graham Amendment, closed the As Quakers, we may wdl have additional cases already before the courtS: within days, Federal courtS to Hamdan and the 150 ocher cause for unease. I believe chat we are seekers administration sought to dismiss chose 150 cases. detainees. If it upholds the administration, it after Truth, the Light to guide our actions. will mean court access can be controlled by Often we discern this best in communiry, Executive Orders the executive branch. C ivil rights groups claim through the insight, counsel, and example of Another strongly wielded tool of this "uni the amendment, by stripping the courtS of ochers. All chis, a continuous and lifelong tary executive'' is executive orders, which have detainee claims and removing the right of learning, living, growing process, is icself a the status of law without Congressional legis habeas corpus, is unconstitutional. source of joy. lation, and which expire at the end of an A second case is U.S. citizen Jose Padilla, This being so, can we accept-under any administration. The Faith-Based Initiative first charged as a "dirry bomb" suspect based circumstances-near-absolute authoriry on operates under this auchoriry. The administra on testimony acknowledged to be torture the part of any one leader who claims to tion boastS it has made up ro $2 billion avail derived. He was held for three years in solitary know enough to act alone, and who claims to able to faith groups, often ics conservative reli military detention as an enemy combatant. command sufficient wisdom and power to gious base; yet it is oucside the media spotlight. The Court will decide whether the govern secure the nation from the "barbarian at This program includes funds for "absti ment can deny juridical rightS to a citizen the gates," without the checks and balances in nence only'' sex education in high schools, arrested in the United States and use military the Constitution? growing from $50 million to over $200 mil tribunals instead of the federal courtS for Apart from the headlines, which often miss lion. At least three states now refuse these offenses. To avoid chis high court challenge, the real story of a five-year accretion of"unitary'' funds. Maine stopped a conservative group, the administration changed the charge and power, what is the evidence of presidential which has a $1.5 million federal grant to teach transferred Padilla to civilian criminal court. power freed from accountabiliry? And what, if abstinence only, from doing so. Administra However, civil liberties groups are arguing for anything, do Quakers have to do about it? tion officials transferred evaluation of the pro gram from the Centers for Disease Control, a Supreme Court review. Presidential Signing Statements recognized as expert in sex education research, Freedom of dissent, personal privacy, The president has used a set of tools, like to the Health and Human Services unit on juridical rightS, and adherence to transparen presidential signing statementS and executive Children and Families, which has more ideo cy and accountabiliry that is requisite to a orders, which are at the disposal of all presi logical leadership. strong democracy require active involvement dentS, but with an unprecedented frequency of the Constitutional institutions, fulfilling and impact on governance. Crucially, when he Presidential Findings their responsibiliry to balance national securi signed the much-publicized Detainee Treat The widely reported secret presidential ry, human rights, and liberry. Should the ment Act, which forbids torture and crud, order, predicated on his "findings" chat certain courtS or Congress seep back, the balance of inhuman, and degrading treatment, the pres faces warrant extraordinary actions (chat is, power becomes dangerously distorted. When ident, contrary to his pledge, used his signing covert work of intelligence agencies), created the media seek excitement and ignore less dra statement to assert his powers as commander the National Securiry Agency program of war matic and time-consuming truths, we are dis in chief to waive itS restrictions. rantless eavesdropping of international advantaged. Nonetheless, Quakers know well A second, less-reported provision (the Gra- domestic communications of suspected ter that truth-seeking takes constant effort, and roristS, but without law-mandated approval we are not absolved from searching for truth Nancy Milio is professor emeritus ofHealth Pol by the secret Foreign Intelligence Securiry Act in public affairs and for spiritual truths-as icy at University ofNorth Carolina and a mem (FISA) court, despite explicit Congressional though these can be separated-and then act ber ofChapel Hill (N C) Meeting. and Justice Department objection. ing on them. D 30 May 2006 FRIENDS jOURNAL • BOOKS graphs, taken by James Nicholls. "Well, why War and Faith in Sudan read another poem? Why take another stren By Gabriel Meyer, with photographs by james uous hike? Why visit a friend, who despite your Nicholls. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., tender presence, is going to die anyway? Because 2005. 216pages with index. $20/hardcover. that's why we're here, to find out about life, to experience our humanity more deeply. We're The photograph on the cover of Wtr and here to pay attention, bear witness, and find Faith in Sudan, a new book by veteran war our way to an authentic relationship with spir correspondent Gabriel Meyer, offers a telling it. We're here to grieve and cheer for one glimpse of its contents. A young Nuba girl of another, and crack open our hearts, even perhaps nine stands straight, although missing though that often hurts terribly." her right arm. Her face radiates dignity, intel ligence, and inner calm. -David Morse This stoic perseverance before genocide is David Morse is a journalist and a member of a subtext in Meyer's account of the Khartoum time for us to act. Storrs {Conn.) Meeting. government's assault on the people who live in Meyer calls Darfur "a world-class humani the Nuba mountains, in the heart of Sudan. tarian nightmare ... both an epilogue to the long Tl).e girl survived a bombing attack inflicted civil war between Khartoum and the SPLA Last Chance in Texas: The by the Sudanese air force on a school in the [Sudan People's Liberation Army], and a har village of Kaouda on March 2, 2000. Five binger of future conflicts within Sudan." Redemption of Criminal "barrel bombs," ftlled with nails, killed 14 Meyer, who has covered conflicts in Bosnia Youth children, most of whom were sitting outside and elsewhere, has visited Sudan repeatedly &om receiving instruction under a pair of sycamore 1998 through 2004, more than once accom By john Hubner. Random House, 2005. 257 trees. One of the bombs fell between the trees. panying Sudan-born Bishop Macram Max pages. $25.95/hardcover. The school, while Catholic, exemplifies Gassis to Nuba. In an interview, Gassis declares: Quakers have a long history of connection the religious diversity and tolerance that with prisons and rehabilitation. We've known abounds in the Nuba region, where it is not When people talk about Sudan as a prisons from the inside, visited and exposed uncommon to have followers of three differ north-south conflict, they're wrong. It's them from the outside, designed solitary con enf religions within the same family. "In a not a struggle between Arab north and finement as a means of rehabilitation, con dark tribute to Nuba tradition," Meyer writes, A&ican south. The conflict is now and ducted nonviolence training and worshiped "sdven of the initial fourteen dead children has always been fundamentally about with those inside, and explored clemency and were Muslim, seven Christian." ethnicities: An Arab Muslim elite pit restorative justice programs to keep people out The Kaouda bombing brought an inter ting itself against African ethnic cul of them. national outcry, because it was documented tures, and this throughout the country, Prisons bring into focus much of what is by journalists and photographers-Meyer north and south, east and west. This is wrong in our society-racial and economic among them. Previous attacks had not made clear when we consider that while injustice, division and inequality, a growing received attention. the Nuba are religiously mixed, and the penchant for punishment and retribution Now something similar is happening in southerners are mainly Christian or fol and we certainly don't expect to hear good Darfur, in western Sudan. Attacks by govern lowers of traditional belief, the people news from the belly of this beast. Yet John ment-sponsored Arab militias on black tribal of Darfur are all Muslims. And yet this Hubner's Last Chance in Texas: The Redemp farmers go largely unnoticed, partly because regime fights them. Why? For racial tion ofCriminal Youth is like a beacon oflight, with rare exceptions Khartoum has succeeded and ethnic reasons; because they are shining out from the darkest of dark places. in keeping journalists and photographers out Africans, along with the Nuba, the It is a book that could have been written just ofDarfur-and also because the world in gen lngassena Hills people, the Beja, the for Quakers. eral wants this genocide to be over, even if it Nubians and many others. This is the Last Chance follows the experience of a means shutting our eyes to the horror. heart of the whole conflict; and this is group of violent young offenders in a Texas My own interest in Sudan began with Dar meaning of Darfur. youth correction facility, the Giddings State fuf. Denied a visa a year ago, I traveled instead School. This school is very rough-with lots to !South Sudan last December, and now bet Wtr and Faith in Sudan is a thoughtful ofstructure and limits to keep people safe. But ter understand Darfur in the context of the book. Not so much scholarly, as reflective, each year it selects one group of young men North-South civil war. This may be the only drawing on the words of poets such as Rilke and one of young women who have already way Darfur can really be understood-as part as well as fact. If the text occasionally betrays been there for years and demonstrate some of a 20-year genocide in which the primary the haste with which it must have been assem promise, ro go through a process of deep weapon has always been starvation. Starvation bled from previously published articles reflection together. Each person tells his or is ithe specter haunting the 2.5 million dis which makes for occasional confusion in the her life story, taking at least six hours and placed people of Darfur right now, as militias chronology of events-it is nevertheless the often more, with probing questions from and rebels arrack aid convoys, forcing interna work of an insightful and seasoned author, peers and therapists to get them to look at the tional agencies to withdraw personnel. capable of broad analysis and lyrical descrip pain they have buried under anger and apa And this is why I recommend war and tion of the land and its people. thy. Then the key incidents in those life sto Faith in Sudan wholeheartedly to anyone who "So why look through another book of ries are acted out. Later each crime story is told W<\IltS to understand Darfur better, in all its Aliicans barely surviving?" Anne Lamott writes and acted out-both from the perspective of urgency and its humanity, while there is still in introducing the accompanying photo- the young person committing it, then from FRIENDS jOURNAL May 2006 31 Seasoned Friend Sought Do you enjoy meeting char of rhe victim. The goal is self-reflection, with enormous savings in both dollars and and forging relationships with empathy-and redemption. human potential. While John Hubner does new people? Defdy narrated, Last Chance moves seam nor write in religious language, the theme of lessly between the life stories ofseveral young love and redemption is cenual. This is a book Are you a good listener? people as told in their group, vivid descrip char leads us into dark places and shows us the tions of the program they are engaged in, sto Light that is always there robe found. And are you ready to make a real ries of rhe people who are working with them difference for a small, respected, at rhe school, and a larger overview ofjuvenile -Pamela Haines and well-established Quaker crime and correctional policies. Pamela Haines is a member ofCentral Philatkl organization? FRIENDS jOURNAL may 1 found the book both deeply sobering and exuaordinarily hopeful. I had never been sys phia (Pa.) Meeting. be looking for you to fill the tematically and personally introduced to rhe full-time position of arc of so many lives that lead from agonizing Development Officer. childhoods in drug-, abuse- and crime-ridden The Liturgies of Quakerism You will collaborate with our families, to adolescent years of growing crim By Pink Dandelion. Ashgate Publishing inality, to arrest and prison. Ir would be easy development staff, research Company, 2005. 138 pages. $29.95/softcover. to despair in the face of such brutality, yet the Pink Dandelion, a Quaker sociologist who prospects, expand our planned context is a program that actually changes char is Programmes Leader at the Center for Post giving program, and work closely life trajectory. Recidivism is reported as just 10 graduate Quaker Studies at Woodbrooke, percent in three years-less than half the with the Publisher and Executive presents in this study an interpretation of the expected rate. Editor to cultivate and solicit meanings in silent worship ar successive peri The stakes are high for these young people ods of Quaker history-culminating in a dis individual gifts. Local travel is because the alternative is decades in the regu cussion of the meanings ofs ilence for modern, expected. Please send cover letter, lar adult prison system. There are those who liberal Friends. don't succeed, who can't find the srrengrh to resume and 3 references by May IS, Liturgies of Quakerism is a book char repays look deeply within themselves and feel rhe 2006, to: Susan Corson-Finnerty, careful reading, bur ir does demand solid pain that allows for transformation-and intellectual and linguistic work from irs read FRIENDSj OURNAL, 1216 Arch St. 2A, char is the ultimate tragedy of this book. But ers. Ir is wrinen for an ecumenical audience, Philadelphia, PA 191 07 or e-mail most of them do--and that is what offers as parr of a series of studies offering "ground such hope. because, in order to explore what silent wor ship meant to the earliest Friends (like the young Fox), or later Friends, Dandelion prop erly explores very widely each period's ruling asswnptions and preoccupations. After all, what does it mean to say-as do ... at the most affordable rates so ~any books of discipline and spiritual con dition reports-that "worship is central"? It is A Quaker Sponsored Retirement Community not just that it is the first stop on the week's 6300 Greene Street • Philadelphia, PA 19144-2596 journey, or the pause that refreshes before we start in on a committee meeting. Whether 215-844-0700 we are aware of it or not, we bring into wor ~ www.stapeley.org OPPORTUNITY ship all that we are, and all that we think "'""'"""""" and feel. As a result, it is the place where the complete reality of the meeting's members intersects. And what we think is possible, what we tan hope for, in this place/time of inter section, reflects our deepest spiritual and intel lectual commitments. Are some QJ!aker perspectives Pink Dandelion's analysis is provocative because he uses a few central ideas as the fr~ework for examining the changing mean on the wrong trtJCk? ing of silent worship over the centuries. The two dominant ideas in his system are intima cy and time, which must be interpreted in relation to Friends' changing ideas of what God is, and the relation between God's peo Do you want to know what sincere Quakers think, who ple and the world. truly advocate peace, justice, and helping the poorest of the 1will dare a quick sketch of Dandelion's story, which will not be thorough, but I hope poor, but who think many Quaker perspectives are on the will convey something of the richness of thought his book contains: wrong track? Early Friends (in the explosive 1650s) assumed that a transcendent God was moving Try reading The Quaker Economist, a free weekly online news events to a decisive conclusion, and that those who joined this movement were in a sense commentary on peace, justice, and world affairs, somewhat existing in the times-that-result-from-end different from the usual Quaker line. times-separated from the world, established unshakably in the will of God, and infused intimately with the Spirit of Christ. Thus Over eighty letters have now been published and appear on transported beyond fallen human nature, and thee-mails of over 600 subscribers, mostly Quakers. To see the structures of time that accompany the fallen state of the world, Friends were at radi them all online, visit http://tqe.quaker .org. To subscribe lfree), cal odds with that world and its requirements and customs. send an e-mail to [email protected]. Silence was the condition in which the new reality was most directly encountered, FRIENDS JOURNAL May 2006 33 A MiniS!y ofFrayer and Learning devoted to the School of the and its experience renewed; from this well of ty, and the sacredness of personal autonomy: transforming experience Friends were to draw "The worship is generally not understood in Spirit their speaking and their witness, for the com traditionally Quaker ways, even whilst some fort and instruction of their Friends, and the are still engaged in a personal relationship ON BEINGA warning and winning of the unconvinced. with a God who gathers and guides. It is seen James Nayler-and George Fox, I would as a method equivalent to other church forms, SPIRITUAL NURTURER add-showed Friends that, while we can be and the theological underpinnings marginal a program ofprayer and Study brought into the state that Adam was in before compared with the experience possible in the the fall, and preserved there if we are faithful, silence. The danger of this shift away from MAR. 2007 - Nov. 2008 evil and ill-doing is still a part of our reality. theological specificity is that it allows other Even after we have turned to the Light, we can and even secular interpretations to become Program includes eight residencies be tempted as Adam was; if we are not watch part of the normative Quaker fabric." at the Avila Retreat Center, ful, we can lose what we have, by faithfulness, I have scandalously oversimplified Pink near Dwham, NC attained so far. Dandelion's argument, which is bumessed by A prospectus detailing the pwpose, By the 1670s and '80s, the newer genera a range of documentation and evidence from structwe and themes ofthe tions, represented by Barclay and Penn, do not Quaker literature and recent sociological stud progrQ_,m is now available. expect the end of things any minute, and (like ies conducted by himself and others. Perhaps, the post-Apostolic Church) develop a "mean however, I have convinced you that the work Applications by Dec. 1, 2006 time" theology, whose rationale for silence and entailed in studying this book will be well Contact: the lack of outward lirurgy is based on a less worth the trouble. It requires you to examine sosmini [email protected] radical understanding both of God's current your own attitudes, and your understanding (919) 929·2339 o quakerinfo.can/soo.shtml intentions and the completeness with which of"other" Quakers, near and far, past and pres AMn!iyumilecnofile~ aldOceOmritteeof we can be identified with the indwelling ent. Any thoughtful Friend can profit from this RU~ Yealy Meding RtligW;SocieyofFrim Christ: "Barclay's work was not about how to book. Quaker leaders, including public expect the end of the world, but how to live Friends, would do well to learn from it and faithfully in this one." Thus, the world argue with it. Meeting study groups also should becomes again a place to inhabit, though its investigate it, as a way to explore together N.E. Thompson & Co. it influences and unsacred nature stand as a commitments and assumptions too ofren hid -1 10·"'-1:'·"~ 0 " 10 ~ OO · '> S O-lSSO ~~ perennial source of danger and distraction. den by the silence in which we all rejoice. In the subsequent periods of Quakerism, We manage Investment Portfolios approaching the modern, the "meantime" -Brian Drayton from a socially responsible perspective point of view reigns in all parts of the Reli Brian Drayton, a recorded minister, is a mem Financial Advisory gious Society, with Evangelical and Liberal ber ofWeare (NH) Meeting. His latest book is Socially Responsible Investment streams (including liberal Orthodox Friends) On Living with a Concern for Gospel Ministry. Ponfolios that perform making different choices about the implica tions of intimacy with the Divine, depending Charles Schwab custodian on the roles assigned to tradition, Scripture, The Splendor of Creation, a S~curitiN offer~d through and the guidance of the community. The role Capital Portfolio Management, and meaning ofsilence, the moment and enact Biblical Ecology Memb~r ofNASD/S!PC, cleared through ment of intimacy with God in programmed By Ellen Bernstein. The Pilgrim Press, 2005. Bear Suarns Sec. Inc. and unprogrammed worship, diverges as well, 145 pages. $16/so.ftcover. [email protected] and across the spectrum loses its uniqueness as Thousands of years may separate today's a response required by the nature of God, environmental science and ethics from the rather than one among many possible human Creation Story of the Book of Genesis, but arrangements for sacred celebration. Ellen Bernstein sees them as two ways of talk By the late 20th century, a significant por ing about the same reality. In fact, she says, tion of liberal, unprogrammed Friends had both science and religion, when understood as made two radical steps (within Pink Dande complementary, are crucial to the Earth's lion's framework) that arguably have worked a physical health and our struggle for meaning ART fundamental change in the nature of their in the modern age. The op Quakerism-and hence the meaning of the Ellen Bernstein writes with the authority silence. In a quite different sense than Fox of one who is well trained in natural sciences Remem8eR.znq would have meant it, there is now no time and biblical scholarship. It is also clear that she other than this present time, no "other" time has come by these truths through personal to expect or even prepare for, much less inhab experience. Her story begins with her turning KARIN SPRAGUE it. Intimacy with God is also transformed, away from the Judaism that she had been Stone Carvers since to a considerable extent God is not seen taught as a child. It was sufficiencly rewarding, as a transcendent actor, but a less and less she thought, to worship God in natural places. coherencly defined thing, whose meaning is a In time, her regular green communions private matter for each of us. with wild places gave way to a sense of the Thus, when we retire within, we are sacredness of Creation. Formal ecological edu tempted to intensify our sense of individuali- cation also helped her to see how the delicate 34 May 2006 FRIENDS JoURNAL balance of nature was being put at risk by human greed and ignorance. Thus she had no Friends Academy choice bur to stand in the way of its destruc tion, just as she would unhesitatingly shield a Founded 1876 Located on scenic Long Island, loved one from harm. • less than 30 miles from New York City. She hoped to make a difference in the world as a teacher of natural science, but she soon realized that no amount of information Celebrating our 125th Anniversary ;, >, ; ,,,, ~ Founded in 1876 by Gideon Frost for "the children of Friends and those similarly sentimented," Friends Academy is a Quaker, coeducational, inde pendent, college preparatory day school serving 750 students from age three through the twelfth grade. The school awards significant financial assistance. Friends Academy • Duck Pond Road • Locust Valley, NY 11560 Phone: 516-676-0393 • Fax: 516-671-2025 • [email protected] and intellectual reasoning can, by itself, counter the common misperception of the Earth as mainly a source of materials to meet human needs. "Sometimes I feel as if we The best cure for this malady is for people to spend significant time interacting creative have our own life-time ly with natural places, especially during their formative years. Unfortunately, many today learning establishment:' lack motivation to venture outside the -A Foxdale Resident human-built environment. But their resist ance might be overcome if they could tap into Opportunities for growth abound at Foxdale Village, their culture's cumulative knowledge of nature a community where each resident is encouraged to live as a source of wisdom and spiritual-psycho fully and compassionately, with respect and care for logipl renewal. each other. Three levels of care contribute to a graceful qo Bernstein decided to revisit Judaism, life at Foxdale: residential living in ground-floor garden hopmg to find fragments of ancient wisdom apartments, assisted living, and skilled nursing. about nature that she might borrow. She was • Front-door public transportation to theatres, amazed and delighted to discover a rich vein museums, sporting events, and shopping of teachings and disciplines about right rela tionship to Creation in the biblical creation • Cultural and educationalQ story, as well as in many traditional Jewish opportunities at nearby Foxdal e songs, prayers, and rituals-treasures that had Penn State's campus Vi II been obscured over the centuries as Judaism • Reasonable fees include became, in practice, more verbal and intellec I age tual and less intuitive and sensual. lifetime medical care A Quaker-Directed Continuing Core Retirement Community Bernstein was so inspired by this discovery and pharmacy that she returned to her Jewish roots and fouoded Shomrei Adamah, the first national Jewish environmental organization. She also co-authored a 1992 study guide titled Let the Earth Teach You Torah. 500 East Marylyn Avenue • State College, PA 16801 • www.foxdalcvillage.org Ber latest book, The Splendor ofCreation, makes a broader appeal to people of all faiths For more information call (814) 238-3322 or (800) 253-4951 FRIENDS j OURNAL May 2006 35 to look for ecological and ethical principles within their traditions, restoring virality and Summer Camps relevance ro those practices while giving their children greater hope for the future. Each of the seven chapters is a lesson about that Specialize a different kind of ecological problem facing the world roday, discussed in terms of the in Kids themes underlying the seven days of Creation. Bernstein explores the spiritual bases of such critical problems as urban sprawl, monocul Five Quaker-based overnight camps ture, roxie pollution, stress and alienation, and the Barn Day camp for girls and loss of diversity within natural and and/or boys ages 3-17 human communities. The cited biblical passages celebrate the beauty and creative powers of the natural Farm & Wilderness. world, echoing mystical traditions that pre Unplugged and Unforgettable. saged many modern scientific discoveries. A summer of rugged excitement. Fun. She makes it dear, for example, that the Cooperation. Skill-building. controversial term "dominion," as translated Individualized attention. &om Hebrew into English in the Book of Self-awareness and self-expression. Genesis, never meant that humans had a Nurturing and supportive. divine right to crowd out other species and Adventure and Community. prevent them &om thriving in their rightful habitats. On the contrary, it is the very aware ness of our power to exploit, abuse, and destroy nature that can lead us instead to vig ilant care and thoughtful restraint. Bernstein also explains how the discipline of keeping the Sabbath is an essential corrective to human kind's tendency to mistake its role on Earth as one of mastery over nature. The command ment to periodically refrain from work draws our attention ro the Earth's miraculous abun Personalized Care in the dance as a gi& from the Crearor and not just the fruit of our labor. Only by encouraging Quaker Tradition such humility can we learn to live in healthy balance with the rest of the community of life. Since 1896 I find Ellen Bernstein's approach and example to be relevant to Quakerism and its growing Earthcare movement. Many of us A Quiet, started out as secular "environmental act Home-Like Setting in a ivists," initially finding little interest or sup port within the Religious Society of Friends. Beautifully Landscaped We had tried to reach people mainly through facts and persuasion, but a&er suffering frus Atmosphere tration and disillusionment, we realized that people must be engaged at a deeper, spiritual level before they will care enough to signifi • Private Rooms, Suites and • Recreational Activities cantly change the way they treat the Earth. Apartments Revisiting the Judeo-Christian roots of Quak • 24 Hour Security erism and celebrating its Earth-friendly ele • Assistance with Activities of Daily • Some Financial ments has been an important step in redis Living Assistance Available covering our rightful place in Creation. • Emergency Response System -Louis Cox • Three Nutritious, Home-Cooked For information please Louis Cox, a member ofBurlington {Vt.) Meet Meals Served Daily in Elegant call856-235-4884 ing, is publications coordinator of Quaker Surroundings Earthcare "Witness. 28 Main Street, • Linen and Housekeeping Services Moorestown, NJ 08057 May 2006 FRIENDS j OURNAL • NEWS As we mourn the death in Iraq of Tom Fox, Langley Hill who knew and loved him. We lege during yearly meeting. This past First Frie~ds are inspired by the faith example of need to remember that personal loss has also Day, worshiping at Hopewell Centre Meeting his life, especially his witness for peace and happened to thousands of Iraq is-indeed to where Tom lived between visits to Iraq, I heard answering the Light that exists in every per tens of thousands of families around the a message from Tom. He waved cheerfully son. It was faith that took Tom Fox to Iraq for world- who have lost loved ones in acts of and said, 'Come on in. The water's fine.' The two years as a member of a Christian Peace violence just in the past year. Tom's stoty is Living Water, the River of Light, is there for maker Team. The four-member team was being shared widely; the stories of these other us. Tom lived in the presence of the Divine ... abducted last November 26 by a group calling losses have not been. We at Langley Hill will and the Divine Light shone through him. He itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, honor Tom's courage by ensuring that the surrendered his life to the guidance of Christ who demanded the release of all Iraqi prison work to which he was dedicated continues, Jesus. We can do the same. We can let go of ers held by the United States and Iraq, or they and that all the stories of loss- not just Lang fear. We can let go of material possessions. would kill their four hostages. The body of ley Hill's-are told." And we can experience the joy, the calm, the Tom Fox was found in a ditch in The Langley Hill statement became the peace, and the integrity of living our testi western Baghdad on March 10. He had been focal point of other responses remembering monies fully." shot in the head. The three other members Tom Fox and mourning his death. A similar theme is expressed by Hopewell of the CPT-Canadians James Loney and During monthly meeting for worship for Centre ( Va.) Friends, in Winchester, where Harmeet Singh Sooder, and Englishman business on March 12, at Central Philadel Tom was a frequent attender. "The members Norman Kember-were freed in Baghdad on phia (Pa.) Meeting, the clerk, Kathleen Karn of Hopewell Centre Monthly Meeting of the March 23. hak, read the Langley Hill statement. The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) mourn Tom Fox was a member of Langley Hill response among Central Philadelphia Friends the loss of our Friend, Tom Fox. We extend Meeting in McLean, Va. On March 11, Lan was an overflow of memories about Tom Fox, our deepest sympathy to his family and espe gley Hill Friends released this statement: expressions of deep sorrow at his death, and of cially his beloved children Kassie and An "Langley Hill Monthly Meeting of the hope and assurance that Tom Fox made a dif drew," Hopewell Meeting affirms. "Tom was Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) ference with his life and his sacrifice. Central committed to his work in Iraq and he gave his mourns the passing of our beloved member Philadelphia Meeting then approved a minute life in an attempt to bring justice and peace Tom Fox. In the months since the kidnapping to Langley Hill Meeting: "In this time of sor to the Iraqi people. He was not naive about of the four members of the Christian Peace row for the loss of your member Tom Fox, we the dangers he faced; he felt that his work was maker Team, we held Tom, his fellow captives, send our love and constant prayers to your of utmost importance and was willing to and their captors in our prayers. We express meeting community, and, in particular to face those dangers with love and courage.... our deepest wish that the kidnappers will Tom Fox's family. Our sorrow is accompanied We will continue to honor Tom by keeping release Norman, Jim, and Harmeet unharmed with inexpressible gratitude for a man who alive in the Light the work for which he held so that they may return safely to their families, rose to a life of peacemaking in a direct and such passion." and continue the work of peace and under humble way. Friends at Central Philadelphia In the week immediately following the dis standing that CPT was underraking in Iraq. Monthly Meeting join with Friends every covery ofTom Fox's body and the news of his "Tom was a member of our faith commu where to honor a person who put human sol death, several events in memory ofTom and nity for over 15 years. He was a former clerk idarity at the center ofhis spiritual life, and has his life were held on the campus of Guilford (lay leader) of the meeting, and loved working lifted us all toward a fuller vision and practice College in Greensboro, N.C. Tom had ties ro with children and young people. When he last of Friends testimonies. We join with Tom Guilford; his daughter, Kassie, is a graduate of returned from Baghdad in the summer of Fox's family, your meeting, and all Friends to the school founded by North Carolina Quak 2005, he spent time serving as head cook at a find ways of keeping his life before us, and ers in the 19th century. According ro a news Quaker camp near Winchester. His death is extending the message of his work for justice story in the March 16, edition of the Greens especially hard on the children who knew and and peace." boro News & Record, participants in one pan loved him. We express our love and concern New York Yearly Meeting, in a "Worship el discussion included Frank Massey, former for them, and particularly for Tom's own chil and Action for Peace" letter dated March 13, executive secretary of Baltimore Yearly Meet dren>who grew up in our meeting. quoted the Langley Hill statement in full, ing and now on the staff at Guilford College, "In a statement of conviction Tom wrote and responded: "Tom's single-minded desire who was a close friend of Tom Fox; Max in October 2004, he said, 'We reject violence and commitment to live out the Gospel Carter, director of campus ministries; Jane to punish anyone who harms us. We ask for message is both inspiring and deeply chal Redmont, a professor of religious studies; Eric equal justice in the arrest and trial of anyone, lenging. . .. Tom was called to accompany Morrensen, also a professor of religious stud soldier or civilian, who commits an act of those who suffer under occupation in a ies; and William Rogers, a former president of violence, and we ask that there be no retalia way that willingly risked life for love. His Guilford College. tion on their relatives or property. We forgive work embodied his response to Jesus' admo One ofseveral people quoted in the article those who consider us their enemies. There nitions that we 'love our enemies' and 'resist is Jesse Seitel, a Quaker and a student at Guil fore, any penalty should be in the spirit of not evil with evil.' The news of Tom's life ford who had known Tom Fox since elemen restorative justice rather than in the form of and passing calls each of us to examine his tary school. "I do consider myself a pacifist, violent retribution.' or her life for evidence of faithful walking in and at first my reaction was to be angry with "It was an act of courage for Tom to travel the Light." God and pacifism," Seitel said, according to to Iraq, to live in an ordinary Baghdad neigh Addressing Baltimore Yearly Meeting the article. "But I think there's a victory in borhood, and to try to give voice to the con Friends, in a statement dated March 13, 2006, Tom's death. Tom's situation brought togeth cerns of ordinary people with friends and fam on BYM's website, Lauri Perman, clerk of er groups that we assumed wouldn't care. I ily members held in prison, out of sight, and BYM, wrote, "Some of you have heard my think it really showed the world ... that love with no avenue for communication. memory ofTom standing waist-deep, playing can win people over. Maybe it didn't win over 'The loss of Tom is personal to those at with the children, in the creek at Wilson Col- his captors, but it showed much of the Mus- FRIENDS ) OURNAL May 2006 37 July issue: Reserve space by May 1. Display Ad Deadlines Ads must be received by May 4. lim world that there are Christians who care," Seitel said. Reservations are August issue: Reserve space by June 5. The headline over the News & Record arti required for display ads Ads must be received by June 8. cle stated, "Friends of Tom Fox: Chance to break cycle of revenge." -Newsletters, Balti in FRIEN DS j OURNAL. more rear(y Meeting website, Greensboro News Ad rate is $38 per column inch. & Record, and news reports from the Internet. Call (215) 563-8629 now Thirty-one nonviolent activists were sen with your reservation or questions. tenced to prison in Columbus, Ga., in Janu ary for protesting the Western Hemisphere E-mail: [email protected] Institute of Security Cooperation (formerly called School of the Americas). The defen dants were charged with trespass after peace full y wallcing onto Fort Benning military base Step lively! Your future is waiting! in protest to the controversial school located there, and each person faced a maximum sen tence of six months in prison and a $5,000 Kendai-Crosslands' new Wellness Center helps keep you fit fine. The sentences came less than a week after for an active, engaging lifestyle: a military jury in Colorado decided not to jail an Army interrogator after finding him guilty • 18,000 sq. ft., 3-story wellness facility; of negligent homicide in the torture and • Aquatics area with therapy pool, lap pool, and jacuzzi; lcilling of an Iraqi detainee. "For eight years I • Regularly scheduled exercise classes including Tai Chi have been studying this issue and listening to and strength training; the stories of those most affected by the • Fitness room with cardio machines, Keiser School of the Americas .... My prison sen strength training equipment, free weights; renee doesn't change my feelings about my • Therapy area staffed by a physical therapist action. I know this was the right thing to do," and occupational therapist. said Delmar Schwaller, an 81-year-old World Not-for-profit; Quaker-related. Full residential War II veteran and active community volun services, lifetime restraint-free health care. teer sentenced ro rwo months in prison. In 1996 the Pentagon released training manuals used at the school that advocated torrure, ~NDAL ~cROSSLANDS extortion, and execution. Despite this admis sion and hundreds of documented human rights abuses connected ro soldiers trained at ?Jommunities the school, no independent investigation into 610-388-7001 • 1-800-216-1920 the facility has ever taken place. New research P.O. Box 100 • Kennett Square, PA 19348 confirms that the school continues to support www.kcc. kendal.org known human rights abusers. In 2005, Rep resentative Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) intro duced HR 1217, a bill to suspend operations ,FSA...... a-.c...... ,.., at the school and to investigate the develop ment and use of the manuals released by the Pentagon. As of January 2006, the bill had 124 bipartisan co-sponsors. --SOA Watch News On February 1, American Friends Service Committee joined in a series of Freedom of A boarding and day high school where ... Information Act requests filed across the ... personal transformations take place country to uncover recent surveillance activ ities by the Pentagon. The FOIA requests, ...each person seeks to live with full integrity filed by the American Civil Liberties Union ... distinct ways of learning are honored and its affiliates, come in the wake of new evi dence that the Defense Department has been secretly conducting surveillance of peace groups and protest activities. Last December, NBC News broke the srory that Lake Worth (Fla.) Meeting was one of the targets in about 1,500 allegedly suspicious incidents included in the Defense Department's secret Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) reporting system. Recent reports indicate that May 2 006 FRIENDS JoURNAL Waiting for the perfect moment Quaker activities in Ohio and Vermont may also have been scrutinized under the program. to subscribe? A Defense Department spokesman, who declined to be identified by name, said last wed< that the TALON program is intended to deal with suspicious activity and threats to national security before an attack occurs. "Unfiltered" information in the database can come from law enforcement, counter-intelli gence, and even concerned citizens, he said. Tha information then becomes a "dot" that can later be connected to other "dots" to iden tifY a possible terrorist attack plot in its early stages. The information is shared with law enforcement, intelligence, and other govern ment security agencies and analyzed. The spokesman also said that the informacion that does not belong in the database is not delet ed but is instead placed in an oversight file after a period of time. Michael McConnell, director of AFSC's Great Lakes region, which recently found itself under Pentagon scrutiny, says that documents AFSC has received over the years through Freedom of Information requests reveal that AFSC was the target of FBX surveillance and infiluation dating to the 1970s under a government effort to "neuual ize" political dissidents. "Given the history, I'm not surprised, but it is outrageous," he says, noting that the Chicago office where he works has evidence that over the years Chica go J?Olice and the FBI have spied on and infil trated AFSC's protests at presidential inaugu o keep up with rising costs, FRIENDS JouRNAL will be raising its subscription rate rations and military recruiting offices. "There to $39 per year on July 1. That makes now the perfect time to get on board! are real threats out there, but it does not come Subscribe by June 30, 2006, and you'll lock in our current rate of $35-that's from groups engaged in lawful public protest, T whose goals are publicly stated." The presi 42% off the cover price. And best of all, you'll get 12 issues of FRIENDS JouRNAL, packed dent now admits secretly authorizing an elec full of award-winning artides, opinions, poetry, news, and art. Call us at 1·800-471· uonic surveillance program to eavesdrop on 6863, visit our website at On. February 8, Oasis of Peace marked the For fastest service, log on to A Vibrant City. •May 11-12-Friends Environmental Edu for Africa Advocates, in Washington, D.C. A Close Community. cators Network Conference, at Tandem Contact May 2006 FRIENDS JouRNAL Quaker Roots Run Deep. ince the mid-1700s Quakers have been changing seasons with temperate w inters, 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 EOUAL HOuSING www.friendshomes.org OPPORTUNITY FRIENDS j OURNAL May 2 006 Friends Neighborhood Guild continued from page 17 counseling and referrals, adult basic edu cation, and holiday food and toy disui bution. Youth work includes after-school and summer enrichment programs, a Freedom School summer program focused on literacy and cultural pride, and A small farm home camp in the career exploration. North Carolina mountains In order to stay afloat in recent Under Quaker leadership for over 50 years decades, settlement houses throughout the country have turned more and more boys and girls ages 7-12 3: I camper/staff ratio from traditional neighborhood programs www .campcelo.com 828-675-4323 to government contracts and narrowly focused foundation grants requiring serv ice to particular subgroups of the popula tion. Yet these restrictive contracts are becoming ever scarcer and more limiting, even as they pull settlements like the FREEING Guild further from their mission of attending to the well-being of the com munity as a whole. The Guild has struggled to stay true to CREATIVE its roots in these hard times by building I into every interaction an invitation to leadership, advocacy, and service; it has a f reputation for responding to the whole l\1 N D S . person and has people corning back for more. In the last few years, the Guild has For Students with Learning Differences also put scarce resources into community Multismsory teaching strategi~ for divmt karning styln programming in an attempt to again serve all of its neighbors, and to draw on their Prospective Parents Open House dates for 2005-2006: strengths to serve each other. October 26 • November 16 • December 14 The board, a mix ofQuakers and com January 25 February 15 March 15 • April 12 • May I 0 munity people, works to both discharge Professional Open House dates: October 12 • January II its duties responsibly and be in fuller con College Preparatory • Grams 7-12 • Summer Program tact with each of these constituencies. As 8-day Orton-Gillingham Associate Levd Training Course: June 14-23, 2006 the Guild completes 125 years of service, it has much to be proud of, and it con tinues to wrestle with themes that have echoed down through the years: • H ow to find enough resources to stay afloat; • How to stay true to the mission when money might be more readily available to do other things; • How to maintain loving respect among GuideOne Insurance is America's leading insur board, staff and participants while expecting accountability; er of religious institutions. and has been pro • How to combine helping those in need tecting Friends houses of worship and schools with inviting them to take power to for more than 20 years. In fact, since 1979, change their situation; GuideOne has been the Friends Insurance • How to involve more Quakers in this Group property and casualty insurer of choice. opportunity to live fuller lives by being To arrange for a FREE premium quotation, and more present to our less privileged urban neighbors. 0 to learn more about GuideOne Insurance, call r. 4 1-877-448-4331 ext. 5429. Ciu1deOne· fnsurance 42 May 2006 FRIENDS JoURNAL • MILESTONES Marriages/Unions Olney Friends School Harris-Smith-Akxi Elain~ Smith and jennifer Chapin Harris, on Fourth day, Third monrh, 2006, Est. 1837 under the care of Adelphi (Md.) Meeting. Jennifer is a member of Adelphi Meeting. Alexi is a mem An intellectually challenging ber ofGood Shepherd United Church of Christ in Ann Arbor, Mich. T he couple currently lives in Ann ifbor where Jennifer works for the Center for college preparatory Independent Living. program within a LairMfetzlaff-Monica Maria Tetzlaffand Bradley Duane Laird, on February 19, 2006, under the care supportive Quaker of South Bend (Ind.) Meeting. Monica is clerk and Bradley a member of the meeting. community. Deaths Baily-Dorothy Marshall Baily, 93, on July 8, Olney Friends School 2004, at Crosslands Retirement Community in in Barnesville, Ohio Kennert Square, Pa. Dorothy was born in Kennert is a small co-educational Square on September 24, 1910, to Henry W Mar shall and Lucy Sinclair Marshal l. She was much boarding school for loved by Kennett Meeting, where she was a lifelong grades 9-12. member and served as superintendent of the First day sChool, on many committees including Over seers, as recording clerk, and at the meeting's Quak er Fair. Dorothy was predeceased by her husband, Willian1 H. Baily. She is survived by a daughrer, Mary Frances Baily Jordan; a son, William M. Bai ly; and a brother, Robert Marshall. Fisk- Neva Hamilton Fisk, 79, on May 4, 2005, at Pennswood Village in Newtown, Pa. Born as Neva Fay Hamilton on July 8, 1926, in Fulton, N.Y., she spent her childhood in New Hartford, graduating from New Hartford Schools and in 1947 earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from Keuka College. Firsr employed at the Mather School for girls in Beau Come to forr, S.C., Neva rode in the back of segregated pub lic fr.VlSportation with her fr iends and students to and from school rather than in the from with oth Pendle Hill er whites. These experiences, and conversations with her husband, George Fisk, whom she married May 19-21 in 1948, led her to embrace Quakerism. She later Read Within: Encountering the Scriptures worked at American Friends Service Commitree in with Early Friends Philadelphia, Pa., and remained commitred to with Michael Birkel Quaker principles of nonviolence and social activi$m throughout her life. Neva returned to May 22-25 school in 1969, earning a master's degree in Social The Great Turning: Revolution Work from Syracuse University. Upon graduarion she directed and administered a Section Eight Pub for the Sake of Life on Earth lic Housing program, working principally with with Joanna Macy senior citizens in the city of Syracuse. After retiring from social work and moving to Atlanta, Ga., in May 29-June 1 1983, she became active in other community Writing for Life: Exploring organizations, working as a volunteer for the the Peaceful Power of Story Aclanra Symphony's support group and ediring the with Lynn Nelson sympl10ny's newsletter for volunteers. While living in Adanra, Neva became a member of Atlanta Truthful Assessment, Careful Meeting and was a major imperus behind the Discernment and Charting the Path Forward founding of Friends School of Atlanta. She also mobilized women in Atlanta Meeting ro publish with Niyonu D. Spann and Elizabeth K. Olson Frien(ily \-%man, a journal written for and by Quaker women. Neva always sought to do what ever she did surpassingly well. In recognition of her PENDLE HILL To find out more, contact: many contributions to society, the Alumni Associ 800.742.3150 (US only) ext. 3 arion of Keuka College awarded her its 1996 Com A QUAKER CENTER FOR STUDY AND CONTEMPLATION 610.566.4507 ext. 3 munity Service Award. Her many friends and fam 338 Plush Mill Road· Wallingford, PA 19086 [email protected] ily will also remember coun tless, perfectly pre www.pendlehill.org pared, delicious and nutritious meals in the elegant FRIENDS JouRNAL May 2006 43 ambiance of her home. A loving and nurturing Thelma (Ellis) Leech. He was educated in the pub mother, Neva encouraged and inspired her first lic schools ofYork C ity where, in his youthful days, born son, Eliot, now a university professor and an he worked, along with his father, for the York Street internationally known classical guitarist. And she Railways. In 1939 Eldon brought the last streetcar was also a resourceful and determined advocate for into the trolley barn, ending the operation of the her second son, Matthew, born with Down's Syn vast York interurban system. Eldon adapted to the drome. Her refusal to be discouraged ultimately times, working for the su=eding York Bus Com resulted in the placement of Matthew in a group pany, where he remained until retirement. In 1944, home, where he now resides. Residents of his passion and knowledge of local history led him The oldest Quaker school in the world, Pennswood Village and Newtown Meeting will ro open an antique shop, which he operated until William Penn Charter School embraces long remember Neva's welcoming smile and ener his fmal illness. Accomplished in the decorative tradition and welcomes innovation. gizing presence. Neva is survived by her husband of painting style of the early 19th century furniture ,-----.. 56 years, George Fisk; two sons, Eliot and Matthew painters, he also studied and worked on clocks in \'-"~~ - G ..... __ __..~ Fisk; her granddaughter, Raquel Leona Fisk; and his collection, and became skilled in their repair two brothers, Ross and Richard Hamilton. and restoration. His reputation as an honest and Essential Quaker principles and practice fair craftsman brought him renown and many guide Penn Charter, a Friends school Hufbauer-Arabelle (Trixie) Hu{bauer, 90, on Jan pleased customers. Eldon held a fascination with uary 26, 2005, in Berkeley, Calif. Arabelle was born by birthright and conviction. Within a Friends, beginning with the knowledge that his in Pescadero, Cali£, on May 2, 1914, the oldest diver.;e community, we engage students paternal ancestors were among the first wave of child of Ernest McKee, a lumberman , and Norine Quakers in Northern York County. Ar 35, Eldon, in a stimulating and rigorous educational Clark McKee, a rancher's daughter, both from program. We foster academic discipline and wishing to explore historic family ties, began Humboldt County. Raised along the Eel River, attending York Meeting. There he entered into a intellectual curiosity ro prepare graduates Arabelle loved ro recall irs lush redwood groves. close friendship with George Jessop, whose men for higher education and for life. She attended high school in the town of Fortuna coring brought him into a deep understanding 3000 West School House Lane, Philadelphia until her junior year, when the family moved to San of what it means to be a Friend. Upon the untime Mateo. Arabelle played center on the girls' basket ly death of Friend Jessop, Eldon was brought 215.844.3460 ball ream and entered University of California for forth as clerk of the meeting. His clerkship contin architecture in 1930 at the age of 16. After receiv ued, uninterrupted, from 1953 to 1993. Over www.penncharter.com ing her MA in Architecture in 1936, she married those years, Eldon witnessed rises and declines of fellow student Clyde Hufbauer from San Diego. membership and attendance. Ofren he was the ~ Arabelle and Clyde lived in San Diego, where their only Friend present, yet he was never discouraged. WilliamPenn three child ren were born. Clyde was an architect for He was sure that seekers would find their way ro the city's school system, and rhey lived in homes of the meeting, and he wanted it to be open and wait Cliarter their own design: a modest one in Mission Beach ing for them. In the late 1960s, Eldon saw the meet School in 1939, and a larger one in La Jolla, built in 1952. inghouse fill ro capacity with seekers and protesters, Arabelle and Clyde's marriage ended in 1960, and as antiwar sentiment grew. The meeting eventually in 1963 Arabelle moved to Berkeley, near her par splintered over matters of social action, and once ents, and lived there for the remainder of her life. again membership evaporated until Eldon sat alone A talented oil painter, she opened an art gallery in on the facing bench. In 1976, York Meeting was the mid-1970s. Although she carried out apart facing major repairs rhar far outweighed its ment renovations in Albuquerque and house reno resources. In order to meet the needs that would « 44 May 2006 FRIENDS JoURNAL FRIEND§ FIDUCIARY CORPORAT I ON Friends F iduciary Corporation (FFC) embraces a widely held concern of Friends that investment should be made in businesses which serve a beneficial purpose in a well-ordered society and exclude those which raise concerns about their prod ucrs, management and business practices. Through our C 0 N S 0 L I D A T ED INVEST M EN T F U N D and P LANN E D GIVING S ERVI CES, FFC can he lp your organization provide responsible financial stewardship. Fril'lldl Firlt11it1rr (."otjlol/tlioll is rt 1/o!)i,r-Jim/11 rmjlortlltotl snci11g ottrjd/oz,.·· Fril'lldl or~m;i-;,t~liotts. l'kasc cont~lct ( :onsrancc Brookes. E'ccurin.: I )irn·tor ar.? IS-.?-+ 1-7 .?7 .?. email: clhfidcorp Each of FWCC's four sections, serving • Africa • the Americas • Asia and the West Pacific • Europe and the M iddle East ca,ries out the work of connecting Friends in its own region. FWCC cares for isolated Friends When you support FWCC Section of • Friends World Committee for Consultation and meetings and worship groups the Americas you are part of this global Section of the Americas that are located far from established work: One quarter of our unrestricted 1506 Race Street, Philadelphia PA 19102, USA yearly meetings through its International income goes to support the World Office 215. 241. 7250, [email protected] Membership Committee. and the Africa Section. www. fwccamericas.org JoURNAL May 2 006 45 Tif ~ QUAKER SCHOOL at HORSHAM Mallison-Glenn S. Mallison, 86, on January 13, ter and son-in-law led a workshop on "Nonrheism 2005, peacefully and surrounded by loved ones, of Among Friends," which has been repeated wirh Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). Glenn was various leaders at subsequent Gatherings. Still, as A FRIENDS ELEMENTARY born on December I 0, 1918, at home in Cortland, he became more set in his arheism, the contradic AND MIDDLE SCHOOL FOR N.Y., the third of H arry and Leona Mallison's five tion he felt wirh Christian Quakerism troubled BRIGHT CHILDREN WHO children. In his youth, Glenn was known for his him. Eventually, he resigned from his beloved Reli sense of humor and a laugh chat curned heads. gious Society of Friends. In his last years, under the LEARN DIFFERENTLY Glenn's spiritual life opened at a Baptist summer fUll weight of his undiagnosed PSP, Glenn lost camp in 1941, where he spem several solitary hours imerest in the world, almost completely ceasing to 318 Meeting House Road, Horsham, PA 19044 reading Christian Scriptures and realized char, as a speak, but continued to respond to rhe presence of 215-674-2875 • www.quakerschool.org Christian, he could nor parricipate in war. He his children wich a warm smile and a strong grip. became a lifelong pacifist. During World War II he Glenn is survived by his daughters; five grandchil served in Civilian Public Service (CPS) camps, and dren; and his sister, Ruch Reynolds. rook part in medical experimems at Columbia Montgomery-Martha Wheeler Montgomery, 91, Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. After his on April 5, 2005, peacefUlly, in Fort Collins, Colo. release from CPS, he participated in a cattle boar Martha was born on April21, 1913, in New York project sponsored by Church of rhe Brerhren. This City. She was educated at Echel Walker Boarding experience led Glenn ro become a vegetarian. In rhe School and Smirh College. Later, she pursued grad fall of 1946, Glenn enrolled in Earlham College. uate studies in Psychology at City College of New There he became bener acquaimed with rhe Reli York and University of Chicago. Marrha's passion gious Society of Friends, and there he met Carolyn for helping others was evidenr in many ways. Pro Murray Weddell Kulka. T hey married under rhe fessionally, it manifested itself in rwo major areas: care of Westtown (Pa.) Meeting che day he gradu labor organizing and the practice of psychology. In ated. The couple moved ro Indianapolis, where New York City, she organized women laundry chey boch worked fo r che Juvenile Court. Glenn workers, who at rhe time were earning $8.30 a chen accepted a posicion wirh New York City week compared to $12.50 for men. To become fUr Friends, working wich impoverished immigranrs in mer engaged in and educated about che labor Harlem. He and Carolyn lived at Mr. Morris movement, Marrha moved to Mena, Ark., a pro House (called che "Harlem Ashram"), a Christian gressive community and home of Commonwealrh pacifist cooperative community. Working briefly College. There she met Wayne Barker, her first hus for the Fellowship of Reconciliation, G lenn adopt band. Togerher chey helped organize steel and gar ed the words of his boss, A. J. Musre: 'There is no ment workers in St. Louis. After che war chey way to Peace, Peace is rhe Way." In 1952, his and divorced, and Marcha married J. Seymour Mont Caroline's first daughter, Carol, was born. In 1954, gomery, of Princeton, N.J. In New Jersey, Martha Glenn received his master's degree in Library Sci became a psychologist for rhe school district and ence from Syracuse University, and he began h is WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER. worked in several guidance centers, for a rime library career in Rochester, N .Y. In 1956 he joined becoming director of one of them. She taught Psy Rochester Meeting. A year later he became head of PEAaFUL PRMNOON IS. chology at Tremon State College, maintained an che Herkimer Free Library, and, in 1959, rhe fam extensive private practice, and became a fairhfUl ily moved again, chis rime ro Watenown, N.Y. attender, chen member, of Princeton Meeting. Free "Peaceful Prevention" Alchough rhere was often no nearby meeting in Marrha's spiritual life included a strong interest in cheir various hometowns, Glenn and Carolyn booklet or ''War Is Not the the Sufi tradition. She regularly arrended Dances of raised their three daughters as Quakers, active in Universal Peace in Princeron, and visited cheAbode Answer" bumper sticker Rochester, Syracuse, and West Branch Meetings. Retreat Center in upstate New York. Her seeking From 1960 on, rhe whole family participated in the See www.fcnl.org rook her to pilgrimages in Egypt, Jerusalem, and activities of New York Yearly Meeting. Glenn India, and led her to participate in a drumming cer or calll-800-630-1330 servied on a variety of yearly meeting committees, emony on a beach in Portugal, and a Sufi retreat in including che Nurture Coordinating Committee rhe H imalayas. Several of rhese adventures took and che Peace Concerns and Epistle committees. place in her late 70s and early 80s. At age 8 5, Friends Committee Glenn served on the board of che Central New York Marrha gave up her private practice and moved to region of AFSC and Friends World College Asso on National Legislation Fort Collins, Colo., in order ro be nearer to family ciation. In 1972, Glenn and Carolyn divorced. and ro live in a cohousing community. As a mem Glenn later briefly remarried. Glenn's decision ro ber of Fort Collins Meeting, she attended meeting become a pacifist was at first not well received by regularly and served on comminees, including his family or his country. During che Vietnam War, Faith in Action, various clearness committees, and he refUsed entry to IRS agents who confronted rhe Ministry and Counsel. She brought ro Ministry family's refUsal to pay phone taxes. He is remem and Counsel a strong spiritual foundation over a bered fondly at the A.kwesasne Reservation for his period of several years. As in every ocher phase of calming presence rhere during tense times in rhe her life, she engaged and endeared people wherev 1980s. On one occasion, he literally dodged hullers er she met rhem. She was a spirited person who to rescue a wounded Mohawk. When Glenn touched people's lives wich her humor, intelligence, retired in rhe early '90s, he moved to Irhaca to be 171$0 and caring. Marcha is survived by her children, close to his daughters, transferring his membership Pre-K through 6th Grade Lynn Root, John Montgomery, and Shelly Barker; to Ithaca Meeting, and serving on irs Ministry and her brochers, Charles and Edward Wheeler; and Call the School for 2006/2007 openings Oversight and Peace and Social Action committees. her sister, Ann Weachers. and Summer Camp information He was a ready and willing worker in che Kirchen 2150 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting Cupboard, and driver for Meals On Wheels, two Sibley-Maryorie Sibley, 82, on January 21, 2003, PA 19462 • (610) 828-2288 local food service programs. As he grew older he in Minneapolis, Minn. Marjorie was born on April www.pmfs1780.org began to question the existence of God. At rhe 23, 1920, near Longview, Ill., rhe fourch child of 1996 FGC summer Garnering, he and his daugh- ten born to Echel Baptist Hedrick and Ora Hamil- May 2006 FRIENDS JoURNAL If you're nearing a life-changing crossroads, such as a Planning a job change or retirement, it may be time to choose a new direction for your retirement fund. How do you rollover? know which road to take? May we suggest Pax World Funds. Since our founding Take the in 1971, we've subjected potential investments to robust social- and environmental-responsibility screens in addition to rigorous fi nancial scrutiny. So we hope to high road. help you retire comfortably and in good conscience. It's surprisingly easy to roll inro one of our low-fee IRAs. Just call 800-767-1729 and request our free rollover kit. O r ask for one of our rollover specialists. T hey can quickly Pax World Balanced Fund help you find your way. 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PAXW \~RLD MUTUAL F U N D S Principles + Performance. 1-800-767-1729 www.paxworld.com Lexington, Virginia, named one of the top six places to retire by Consumer Reports, is home to Kendal at Lexington, a life-care, Q uaker-related retirement community that offers an ideal blend of culture and comfort. With rolling hills, peaceful streams, and rich history, it's easy to call this place home. Call us at today (800) 976-8303 or send us an email at [email protected] to learn more about our Phase II expansion. J Lexington, Virginia www.kalex.kendal.org FrufNDS JOURNAL May 2006 47 ray into Quaker green ron Hedrick. She graduated valedictorian of her high school class and arrended University of Illi nois, Urbana. Joining the Peace Club at the uni versity, she became closer with one of her young political science instructors, Mulford Q. Sibley, and they were married in 1942. A daughter, Muriel, was born in 1945, and a son, Martin, in 1950. Close ness to family and an open door to the communi ty characterized the gracious hospitality Marjorie extended all her life, while managing a daunting agenda of professional leadership and work for With our vegetated roof social change. She completed her master's in Soci Friends Center'will insulate the building, ology as well as all the course work for her PhD, make the roof last twice as long, but after the couple's move to Minnesota in 1948-Mulford having accepted a position at Uni reduce air and water pollution, versity of Minnesota- Marjorie went back to and let our witness be seen school in library science. Most of her career was from the tall buildings that surround us. spent at Augsburg College, where for seven years she served as head librarian. Marjorie was a gentle activist at Augsburg, advocating for peace and jus tice issues, including equal pay for women, and she was perhaps happiest when able to combine her teaching and research abilities in her work as a ref erence librarian. An early volunteer for the Women's International League for Peace and Free dom and the League of Women Voters, Marjorie also took a public stand against McCarthyism and the Vietnam War. T he Sibleys' small house stood at a kind of crossroads of liberal academic life, and they marked conversation with humor and toler ance. Marjorie tempered activism with a lively sense of fun and, in particular, love of family and siblings. The Sibleys attended Twin Cities Meeting from the early '50s, Marjorie serving as clerk, on numerous committees, and in every possible men toring capacity. Marjorie retired early to care for her ailing husband, who died in 1989, then delighted Guilford the community with her 1990 marriage to an old COLLEGE friend, also widowed, fellow Quaker sociologist Don Irish. She commented pertly to her clearness Guilford College invites nominations for, and applications from, individuals interested in an committee that when one had loved long and well exciting leadership opportunity as Dean of the Center for Continuing Education and Direc in marriage, one could only be eager to repeat the tor of Swnmer School. Established over 50 years ago, the Center for Continuing Education is experiment. Athletic and energetically involved in a multifaceted, multidisciplinary learning community delivering credit and noncredit courses, community issues, Marjorie and Don plunged into designed for adult learners aged 23 and older, customized training, and other educational serv happy years together, including travel to Nicaragua, ices. Students enrolled in credit courses earn the same baccalaureate degree as the rest of the stu Guatemala, and Cuba. An additional set of chil dent body. The CCE program has nearly quadrupled in size in five years to over 1,200 students d ren and grandchildren delighted Marjorie. The on the way to a planned 1,700 enrolled students by 2010. The Dean provides vision and lead last years of her life were tried by Alzheimer's dis ease, and her serenity and friendliness remained ership to faculty and staff in fulfilling the college's mission of outreach and lifelong learning. The intact. Don's daily visits were frequently reported to Dean is responsible for fiscal and human resource management, curriculum development, as her nurses with an infectious delight, 'Tm in love well as strategic planning that guides the recruitment for, retention in, and development of, with somebody. I think he's my husband!" The last degree, certificate, and non-credit educational programs for adults. words she was able to say clearly were, "So much Qualifications: Strong academic credentials and master's degree required; doctoral degree pre happy." Marjorie was predeceased by her first hus ferred. Ability and vision to develop, lead, and marker innovative programs of continuing edu band, Mulford Q. Sibley. She is survived by her cation. Demonstrated successful leadership experience in administration and student recruit husband, Don Irish; four daughters, Muriel Sibley ment. Faculty rank is a possibility with preference given to candidates with qualifications in busi and Terry, Gail, and Sharon Irish; a son, Martin ness management. At least three years' experience in continuing education or closely related field. Sibley; and five grandchildren. Experience with strategic planning and program development. Knowledge of resource manage ment and budgeting. Ability to establish positive relationships with the community and region. Ability to foster and work in public/private parmerships. Successful record of commitment to promoting equal opportunity and diversity. Effecrive organizational, interpersonal, and com munication skills. Screening of applications will continue until the position is filled. The position is available June 1, 2006, but start date is negotiable. Send cover letter, curriculum vitae, names, addresses, and telephone numbers of three references, and a statement describing your management style and educational philosophy to: Adrienne Israel Vice President and Academic Dean, c/o Fred Devine, Office ofHuman Resources, 5800 W'est Friendly Ave., Greemboro, NC 27410. May 2006 FRIENDS JOURNAL Forum continued from page 5 Human sweat parameters that respect culture yet do not deny freedom of worship. There are many Gree~"tC~!J I am not entirely knowledgeable of the ways to universalize and/or extract specific intricacies of this particular debate bur I am cultural significance from the experience. "the small school that quite sure of the impact of the Quaker sweat The sad part about is ro see all of cl1e politics makes big people" lodge in my life. There is no debating the encircling the most apolitical ceremony I've enoqnously positive effect it has had on ever parricipared in. In reality, the swear is people in the Quaker community, many of the death of human politics. What a shame whom are not part of the mainstream of for it to be the other way around. QualF-erism, and who for whatever reason choose to employ alternative methods of jeremiah Scalia spiriwal exploration and discovery. Young Philadelphia, Pa. people happen ro make up a great portion of this minoriry. I might remind the Qu~er establishment that this fringe Needed: affordable down com~unity of"Quaker swearers" is Greene Street Friends School analogous to the Quakers themselves who time for Quaker parents 5511 Greene Street Philadelphia, PA 19144 are f9nge within a larger society, and parr of The report on Harriet Heath's Quaker whar should distinguish Quakers from larger Parenting Project (FJ Feb.), as well as the • Pre-K through Grade society is its aim at relentless care and experience a couple in our meeting had with 8 Founded in 1855 consideration for all parts of its community, her retreat, is so encouraging and long including the few, the soft spoken, the overdue. With hindsight of parenting and misunderstood, and the voiceless. The grandparenting, I wish our babies came with Please call TODAY for a wishes of one group of Native Americans such an instruction manual/process. The tour. 215- 438-7545 certainly should be respected but so also only other consideration is the realization should the wishes of a minority within the that at the same rime couples have young Quaker community, ro worship how they children, they are usually starring a career, choose, openly and freely. finding themselves as adults and as a spouse, To al l Quakers attending the ~ this point there is an apparent all with beginning salaries. So I would add Friends General Conference conf\ict. How do you respect everyone's that couples should look ro low-budget ways in Tacoma wishes? I don't have the answer ro that and ro escape from the children each week just to ifl knew the minds and positions of all enjoy each other, possibly with other Quaker those involved then I might think on it couples. Laugh and lift the burden of raking more. I do recall the swear taking hear (no yourself roo seriously. pun (mended) from within the Quaker LynDay comljllunity well before the wishes of the Cleves, Ohio Native American group were expounded, which further complicates my ready understanding of this matter. Based on what I do know, I will say that Moving beyond labels "OUR WAY HOME NATIONAL REUN ION it seqns ro me that wood, rock, fire, water, Being relatively new to Quakerism, I WEEKEND" IN CASTLEGAR, BC, CANADA sre;arv, and swear go beyond any particular did nor realize I had so many choices as to (163 MILES FROM SPOKANE, WA) culture, and are elements that any human how to classifY myself until I read the JULY 6-9 , 2006. being or group of human beings has a right '"Seeing' Differently, Sharing Our Truths" THIS EVENT WILL MARK THE COURA· to use fo r ritual, spiritual or mental, and issue (FJ March). GEOUS LEGACY & HONOUR THE CONTRI physical health purposes. I would also like ro I am most decidedly a universalist, BUTIONS MADE TO CANADIAN LIFE BY po~nt out that even traditionally, sweat Chrisrocemric, nontheist, naturalist Friend! THE US WAR RES IS TERS WHO CAME TO CANADA DURING THE VI ETNAM WAR AND lodges are not unique to one single region or I come to Quakerism through an TO T HANK T HE THOUSANDS OF CANADI· culture. Two thousand years ago the Celts extraordinary experience that could be ANS THAT ASSISTED THEM. began practicing swears in Norrhern Europe. properly classified as mystical and/or mental The ancient "African swear hut" originated illness; it can be understood in theist or For tickets and details call in Southern Africa even earlier, and various nontheisr terms and as either a natural or a (250)352-1187 or visit Natiye American tribes throughout the supernatural occurrence. The experience left http ://www .ou rwayh omereu n ion. com Americas practiced their own versions of the me with no doubt of the interconnectedness sweat lodge, respectively. I'm not sure that of humanity from Alpha to Omega-we are "sweating" can be claimed by any one group. all in this together. (It seems to me the only people who should Whether our redemption comes through The Bible Association of Friends be barred from participation are those Christ, Allah, following the teachings of the in America without sweat glands. And I would only Buddha or the Sufis, or whether it flows deny them for their own good because that naturally from the dance of an evolving since 1829 has offered Bibles, NewTestamenrs, and Porrions free or at cost to Friends would be just roo hot!) universe matters nor to me. I chose institutions, individuals, and others worldwide. I ~truggle with understanding how an Quakerism because I am a universalist, and Write ro: P.O . Box 3, Riverton, NJ 08077 agreement cannot be reached with because I did nor wish ro lose the positive F RIENDS jOURNAL May 2006 49 attributes of my Christian heritage. For me hymns. Bur do you feel the contention Defining Christianity my three years of attending a meeting rising in you already, Friends? Let us not pay regularly have renewed positive these terms any attention. Let us look I very much appreciated the articles in Christocentric aspects of my personal faith, forward to a grand reunification, in which the March 2006 issue chat focused on but that in no way diminishes my we all sing our witness of God's glory as one Quakerism's historic role as a Christian universalism. I have experienced God in Religious Society, each in our different parts. renewal movement that challenges the nature, though perhaps not to the depth of dominant, imperial versions of Christianity, those labeling themselves naturalists. I think and offers a radical alternative instead. This Benjamin Lloyd they have much to teach me about the Truth concern goes back a long way for me. For Wynnewood, Pa. from their experiences. I trust they are open example, as a 15-year-old Friend in 1970, I to the Truth of mine. once fell into a conversation with an elderly Personally, I find the whole notion of A reason to celebrate street evangelise. He starred our conversation differences to be mostly a matter of by walking up to me and asking, ''Are you a semantics. When we sit together in silence Those who seek peace may justifiably Christian?" I immediately answered yes. He we are beyond semantics, and we listen enter 2006 with a sense of burden from was not convinced, and began asking questions expectantly to the only Word, which is the 2005's overwhelming media reports of war, about my religious beliefs. After just a few No-Word, and Truth is revealed to us and death, and violence. While reading the minutes, he informed me that I was not a among us; and we are all Friends. Roanoke Times this morning over breakfast, true Christian. As he explained it, I simply Gary Lewis though, I was given reason to celebrate when did not fir any meaningful definicion of a I read these words: Christian because my Quaker interpretations Poughkeepsie, N.Y. "Here are some war stories from 2005 of God, Jesus, and the Bible were all wrong. that you might have missed: Shiite Muslim In fact, he said I was worse off than someone Words to persuade rebels in northern Yemen are giving up. who had never heard ofJesus. I was a heretic. Islan1ic extremists in Algeria are, too. In In an effort to start a dialogue, I asked Thorn Jeavons speaks my mind in his Burundi, peaceful elections ended 20 years him what he thought it would take for me article "What Can We Say Now?" (Fj of bloody civil war. Rebels in Sumatra ro become a crue Christian. He replied that a March). Surely a religious movement whose disarmed afier 29 years to participate in real Christian believes in the literal factual founder debated ministers in their pulpits, elections. Ir seems that armed combat is truth of every passage in the Bible and whose followers have been routinely jailed fall ing out of fashion. According to war believes in every tenet of the Nicene Creed. for their convictions, can find the language historians, the number of conflicts This creedal statement, which has been the to be relevant today. Currently, we are not worldwide declined sharply in the past basis for the formal creeds of most Christian relevant-nor by any national standard. We decade, and their overall lethality is the denominations since it was commissioned by should be, such is the power of our lowest since the 1950s." the Roman Emperor in 325, states that all prophetic witness and the urgency of the Peacemakers must take heart at victories, Christians believe that Jesus was born to a world's need. Bur we cannot fulfill our no matter how small or remote. Just as we virgin, that he is the Only Begotten Son of rightful place in the world as Publishers of have the responsibility to react to the God, that he is in face identical to God and the Truth unless we grow, and we cannot negative news that bombards us each rime part of a three-person Godhead, that he grow through equivocating language. Thorn we read the newspaper or turn on the sacrificed himself for the atonement of our does us a service by proposing some "talking television, we must celebrate any instance of sins, and chat he rose bodily from the grave points" with which to begin conversations peace, mercy, and justice; indeed, we must three days afier his execution and then about what we believe with the seekers we look for evidence of these positive actions returned to heaven, from which he will encounter. And speak we must: nor only in and lift them for the world to celebrate come again in a final Judgment Day. The the cozy circles of the already convinced, but and emulate. evangelise told me that the big pay off for out to our secular and evangelical brethren. When charged char the news is roo often believing all these things about Jesus was that Let us Publish the Truth as we experience it negative, Walter Cronkite once responded God would forgive my sins and let my soul for all the world to hear, and so draw others chat it wasn't the job of the media ro list the live forever in a spiritual paradise. to us. names of the cats that didn't gee stuck in the In contrast, he said all who don't believe My one quibble with his article is the trees. Happily, negative is still news, the these propositions, no matter how exemplary same I share with Cathy Habschmidr's: I exception rather than the rule! their lives, would be barred from heaven by urge Friends to refrain from using the terms So, friends who work deliberately for God and would likely suffer eternal "liberal" or "conservative" to describe who peace, today on Saturday morning over damnation in hell afier their deaths. they are or what they stand for. These breakfast and newspaper, I lift my coffee I could see why he did not think I was a words are empty symbols now, and serve cup high in a toast to words I read that Christian. Early Friends, and the people in only to encourage contention and confusion. refresh me with hope and cause my heart to my own little Friends meeting in DeKalb, They reduce the complexity of a person's be glad. Peace is being realized in corners Illinois, simply did not think that any of spiritual witness to the worst kind of media of our Earth. Painful progress is being these propositional notions about Jesus were mangled jargon. Indeed, if we think of made. It is reason to celebrate. Take a essential to an individual's living in right "conservative" as describing an adherence moment ro dance, or sing, or have your relationship with the Spirit of divine love to tradition and a resistance to change, then own hallelujah moment. This is part of our and guidance that we call God. we Eastern unprogrammed Quakers are mission; indeed, it is our privilege. This view was commonplace in my conservative, and our midwestern brothers meeting, even though many of these same and sisters are liberal, employing as they Debbie W Parvin Friends actually agreed with several of the do the innovations of paid pastors and Galax, Va. Nicene Creed's beliefs about Jesus! May 2006 FRIENDS JoURNAL Personally, as a young Friend in 1970, I was far more concerned with living faithfu lly in the here and now than in worrying about a possible next life. I was also far less interested in p~op l e's theological beliefs about Jesus than in our collectively figuring out how to follow Jesus' way of living in our own lives and times. It did not matter to me whether people shared the view that Jesus was an Serving Older Adults in the Quaker Tradition enlightened spiritual teacher, a prophet of the ~tature of Moses and Elijah, the Residential Living Assisted Living mes$ianic True Prophet anticipated by Nursing Care Rehabilitative Therapies MoSes, or even God Incarnate-the divine, only-begotten Son of God that is deemed a Respite Care Pet Therapy part of a divine Trinity in the Nicene Creed. Medicaid Certified Medicare Certified Interestingly, all four of these views were found among participants in the early Jesus Faith Woodward, movemenr in fi rst-century Palestine. For me, Director of Admissions and Marketing the essence of the primitive Christianity 610-696-5211 embraced by Friends was not unanimity on 700 N. Franklin St. • West Chester, PA 19380 such theological questions, but a heartfelt commitment to follow Jesus' example-to e-ma11: admtSSions ~bf kendal.org W>MN bf.kendal org love God with all one's heart, srrength, and soul and to love and care for one's neighbors, EEO/AOA including one's enemies, as one's self. If LEP people could help each other follow Jesus' Equal Housing transforming, Spirit-led way of life, regardless An affiliate of The Opportumty KENDAL Corporation of their different theological beliefs about his status in the cosmic scheme of things, I was • convinced that deep spiritual renewal was possible in our world. I finally told this man that while I appteciated his suong convictions, I could ' not share them. Nor could I agree with his Woodbrooke definition of a true Christian. I told him that I agreed instead with Wtlliam Penn when he •• :nic.. Quaker Study Centre said, "To be like Christ then, is to be a Christian." The street evangelist shook his II~ Ferguson Quaker Fellowship head and demanded that I stop calling myself a Christian. I walked away not 2006-2007 wanting to upset this man, bur neither was I 100 willing ro abandon Christianity to him. years Could this be for you? There is a more powerful and compassionate Woodbrooke is now searching for the next Ferguson Quaker Fellow. You will have sub wayho be a friend and follower of Jesus than stantial experience in an area of work of interest to Friends. You will use the time of the believing in an imperial faith that actually downplays or ignores the radical life example fellowship to reflect, research, draw out fresh insights and share them with a wider and teachings of Jesus. audience. You will help to enrich Quaker understanding of spiritual aspects of global, Recently, in my 50th year, I've completed social, moral or political issues and to spread Quaker insights more widely. an essay on this very topic called ''Are We You will be highly motivated, able to organise your own work and a good communica Still Friends ofJesus? A Quaker Call to tor. You need not come from an academic background-we are interested in practical Revitalize 'Primitive Christianity' in the outworkings of Quaker faith. Your particular interests will determine the shape and 21st Century." outcome of the Fellowship--subject to negotiation, you may give seminars, run Steve Chase workshops, or maybe write for publication. Keene, N.H. Woodbrooke offers an ideal environment, with support from knowledgeable Quaker staff and access to a wide range of resources. Spinoza: a philosopher for Appointments will be made for September 2006 or january 2007 onwards, and will Quaker skeptics? normally last 9-12 months. As a young man I took many science Want to know more? Contact us: Administration (FQF), Woodbrooke Quaker Study courses, questioned biblical miracles, Centre, 1046 Bristol Road, Birmingham B29 6Lj. Phone +44 (0) 121 472 5171 gradually becan1e agnostic, and began a E-mail: [email protected]. • Website: www.woodbrooke.org.uk career as a research chemist. During the next FRJENDS JouRNAL May 2006 51 ...,. .- "":= COMPASSION •• ,.... ,. -o THE PAINFUL PRIVILEGE 50 years, haltingly and sometimes painfully religious scriptures had value, especially fo r "": = by Dan Nolta lacking clarity, I came w a more spiritual and multitudes of differently educated people. =co integrated understanding, plus greater peace H owever, today we also realize that miracle ; of mind. Last year a crossword puzzle led me myths of world scriptures may lead to ,.... ~ ...... to look up the philosopher Spinoza and to discrimination of race and gender, "witch'' ....o- learn that he had reached a similar and much burnings, suicide bombings, and, via =C> clearer understanding over 300 years ago. prophecies of"the Rapture," Armageddon ~ ...~ Baruch Spinoza (1632- 1677) was a and ecocides. Spinoza does not remove the ..0 brilliant Dutch scholar who chose to live civilizing influence of hope of heaven and ': ~ :z:: simply, happily, and lovingly, in poverty, fear of hell if we conclude that heaven and :-,.. - devoting his life to a rigorous effort w hell are real, here and now, and that our = understand and describe the nature of God, actions build them for ourselves and each .E 'It d Nolta shares the process through humans, and their relationship. To free his other, in ways well described in Scripture, c: which God gifted him with compassion efforts from emotion and bias he used an and we live in them every day. -.~ :.c"' almost mathematical sequence of deductive Spinoza has been widely reviled as an and le d him to work in the Pierce Jill ·~... ::E: County (Washington) Sheriffs reasonings. He concluded that God is One, atheist and heretic. However, he has also ~ :z:: Department as a chaplain. Vivid the eternal, intrinsic, interconnected, been said to have been "intoxicated with • ,.... examples from Nolta's ministry let interdependent total of everything that is: all God." He lived his philosophy. With you in on what he's learned about of nature, including the cosmos and us. As Spinoza, religion and science are not in ~ we love ourselves, so must we love God. -..:- ...... persevering through the difficulties of mortal combat, they are one. Though still ..... Harm to ourselves, to others, or to the Earth controversial, he is today one of the .,_= the compassionate life, and how to ~ is conflict with God. God is not a philosophers that are most influential and ~- >- enjoy the rich rewards with ...... 52 May 2006 FRIENDS JOURNAL • CLASSIFIED Georgia O'Keeffe Country: Owl Mountain Retreat in Abiquiu, New Mexico. North of Santa Fe. Special Friends Opportunities rate. Off-the-grid. (888) 303-7471 , (505) 753-9760. Fru.ENos JouRNAL May 2 006 53 To consider mountain view retirement property, near GENERAL SECRETARY Bald Head Island, N.C. Panoramic view of ocean, dunes, a Friends center, visit 54 May 2oo6FRIENDS JouRNAL Lansdowne Friends School-a small Friends school for CAMP CELO: A small farm home camp in the North boys and girls three years of age through sixth grade, rooted Carolina mountains . Under Quaker leadership for over in Quaker values. We provide children with a quality academic 50 years. Boys and girls ages 7-12. 3:1 camper/staff and a developmentally appropriate program in a nurturing ratio. Consulting services for educational institutions and Uzes, France-known as '1he gateway to Provence"- nonprofit organizations. Fundraising. Capital cam- traditional 3-bedroom town house in the historic center of paigns. Planned giving. Recent clients include liberal a medieval city, between Avignon and Nimes. Built in arts colleges, seminaries, independent schools, social 1555, but totall y modernized. 100 meters to the Place service agencies, Pendle Hill, FGC, and many other EA RLH AM aux Herbes, with lovely cafes and a famous twice-weekly Friends organizations. f RIEl'lDS JouRNAL May 2006 55 ~e~ Summer Term June 23-August 5 Want to take several workshops and retreats? Come for our new Summer Term! Spiritual Retreats with Nancy Bieber July 2-6 Spiritual Discernment: Noticing God's Nudges July 9-13 Practicing Prayer Today: An Invitation Yoga Retreats We also offer these with Bob Butera June 25-29 summer workshops themes Self-Understanding through Yoga with inspiring leaders: June 30-July 2 Yoga You Can Take Home with You • Qi Gong with Kevin D. Greene • Dyeing Japanese Papers with June-Etta Chenard • Chinese Painting with Bob Schmitt • Telling Our Stories with Allan Brick Quakerism Weekend • Weaving with Robyn Josephs July28-30 • Songwriting with David Roth Inquirers' Weekend: • Clay and Writing with Alan Steinberg and Fred Taylor Basic Quakerism with MaiY Ellen Chijioke • Diversity Training for Trainers with Niyonu D. Spann and Trayce N. Peterson Visit our website at www.pendlehill.org for more information. Contact us to find out more A QUAKER CENTER FOR STUDY AND CONTEMPlATION 338 Plush Mill Road· Wallingford, PA 19086 610.566.4507 ext. 3 or 800.742.3150 ext. 3 www.pendlehill.org [email protected]