December 1998 Quaker Thought FRIENDS and Life OURNAL Today eo.e sweet holy days out ofdli o~ come £min the teaet romn in the heart ofthe house. ~our shabby c:anies its own consent and to live is no embattassm.ent. Come with gifts aDd be the beauty in the hollow of things. COme sweet holy days across time's bridge, come with red and silver candles, omamenu, ~.. Scent the air with cedar, multjJy our scant .habitual bJoead into lOaves An Among Friends Independent magazine serving the Religious What a Ride! Society of ow does one start to say thank you and good bye? Since I announced in Friends March my plans to leave the JouRNAL in January 1999, I have received so H many notes, cards, and good wishes from readers. On October 10, I was Editorial surprised when 75 or more current and former board members, staff, family, and Vinton Deming (Editor-Manag~r), Kenneth Sutton (Smior Editor), Claudia Wair (Assistant Editor}, friends came together in Philadelphia for a dinner and "retirement send-ofF' for me. Judith Brown (Po~try Editor}, Maria Gargiulo I have been deeply touched, Friends. Over time I hope to respond person~y to~ . (lntnn) who have shared so warmly. ~ -' • · Production When Olcutt Sanders, my predecessor, introduced me to the editing taSks_here . Barbara Benton {Art Director), Alia Podolsky (Production Assistant), John D. Gummere shortly before his death in 1983, he left me several important insightS. Make the- ~ (SJXdal Projms} magazine inclusive, he said. Set the goal of trying to include some~rig ~n every issue Circulation and Advertising to appeal to each reader. We have tried to do so. And most imponant of all: "Give:_ Nagendran Gulendran (Mark~ting andAdvertising the magazine a personal face." I saw how Olcutt was able to do this-how warmly Manag~r), Nicole Hackel (Circulation Assistant} our readers responded to his columns describing his struggle with!cancer arid_to th~ Administration Marianne De Lange (Offiu Manag~r}, Rachel experiences and humorous stories he told. " · ; · -' Messenger (Accountant}, Henry Freeman My story has been a different one. I had small children to raise>when I first (!Hwlopmmt Consultant), Pamela Nelson became editor, so I often wrote of the joys and challenges of parenthood. When . (Dro~lopmmt Assistant), Ruth Peterson, Robert Sutton (Volu n~m) daughter Evelyn and her friend dragged me to a Michael Jackson con~en, I learn_ed Board of Managers from it and shared that with you. When sons (and now grandsons!) explored the ciry Irwin Abrams, Lucinda Antrim, Paul Buckley, with me and we met a homeless person or were befriended by a stranger, that T ylaAnn Burger, Susan Carnahan (&cording Clnk), Sue Carnell (Tr~asurn), Linda Coffin, seemed worth sharing too. When IRS came knocking at the JouRNAL for my oack Marsha Green, Dan Hewitt, Ingrid Holcomb, taxes, we told you about it. - Mary Mangelsdorf, Barbara Mays, Judith Monroe, There were enormous changes going on in the world over these year~ as well. Caroline Balderston Parry, Ruth Peterson, Lisa Lewis Raymer, Ted Robinson, Technological changes that boggle the. mind. (There were no perionaJ computers, David Runkel (Assistant Clnk), Larry D. Spears, fax machines, or Internet when I came to the office, no cell phones on the street.) Carolyn Sprogell (Ckrk), Wilmer ljossem International politics changed as well. The Berlin Wall came down. The cold war FRIENDS j OURNAl (ISSN 0016-1322) was ended; other wars did not. Through it all, we published, we sought to share the established in 1955 as the successor to Th~ Frimd Quaker message in a time of unprecedented global change. (1827-1955) and Friends ln~Uigmm (1844-1955). • FRIENDS jOURNAL is published monthly by Friends As my eyes scan the page to my right, I see why it's so hard to say good bye. Publishing Corporation, 1216 Arch Street, 2A, The contents page tells me how much I enjoy the flow of material in and out of Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835. Telephone (215) the office; what a privilege it has been to be at a center of information among 563-8629. E-mail [email protected]. Periodicals postage paid at Philadelphia, Pa., and additional Friends. And my colleagues pictured there? I will miss the day-to-day news of their mailing offi=. lives, the support, the close friendship. Next month another face, .our next editor­ • Subscriptions: one year $25, two years $45. Add manager, will join them and will be introduced to you on this page. $6 per year for postage to countries outside the I thank you for your support and Friendship. I'll be looking for ways to visit these U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Individual copies $2.25 each. pages from time to time, both as a subscriber and as an occasional contributor. I wish • Advertising information and assistance is available you joy in the Christmas season and the very best in the new year. on request. Appearance of any advertisement does not imply endorsement by FRIENDS j OURNAL. • Postmaster: send address changes to FRJENDS jOURNAL, 1216 Arch Street, 2A, Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835. • Copyright © 1998 by Friends Publishing Corporation. Permission should be received before Next month In Friends Journal: reprinting excerpts longer than 200 words. Available on microftlm from Universiry Microfilms Quaker Seeking: Do We Ever Find Anything? International. Hannah Whitall Smith PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER A Holy Experience in the Interior: AFSC's Central Region at Age Fifty Moving? Let us update your Friends Journal Staff (Opposite): subscription and address. L-R, Front row, Nicole Hackel, FRIENDS JoURNAL, 1216 Arch St., 2A Marianne De Lange,' Pamela Nelson, Alia Podolsky, Nagendran Gulendran; Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835 Rear, Barbara Benton, (215) 563-8629, Fax (215) 568-1377 Marla Gargiulo, Bob Sutton, E-mail [email protected] Kenneth Sutton, Claudia Wair, VInton Deming 2 December 1998 FRIENDS JoURNAL December 1998 FRIENDS Volume 44, No. 12 JOURNAL Features Departments 6 La Posada 2 Among Friends George Eastburn Reminders ofthe archetypal journey offaith make their appearance 4 Forum in unlikely places. 5 Viewpoint An Odd-Time of Year 23 The Arts Amy Kietzman . Hope and disappointment meet at Christmastime. 25 Witness Martha and Mary, the Holidays, and Me 26 Reports and Epistles Ann Cotton l.evinger 31 News Festive occasions present special challenges to the balance between Martha and Mary. 32 Bulletin Board Sustainable Development as a Quaker 33 Books Testimony? 35 Milestones Robert Hillegass Possible new testimonies require more than lip service acceptance. 39 Classified "Emweakenment" and the Moral Economy Jack Powdson Poetry Weaker central government and increased communicatWn between peers are at the heart ofa vision for a new economic system. 8 Christmas Ughts ·Stewardship and the Practice of Faith Benj Thomas Thomas Jeavons How should we manage our affairs in order to reflect our love Toddler ofGod? T asha Saeck.er From Camden to Okinawa We Are Translated Anita Weber Yo Mizuno Intercultural visits shape the worldview ofyoung people. 11. Options/No Options John A. Kriebd 13 The Spotted Owl Joseph E. Fasciani 16 Guillenno Anna Kingsbury Cover poem by jeanne Lohmann, a member ofOlympia (Wash.) Meeting 3 Forum moved over to make room, and he sat down couldn't have a committee meeting. One The last $5 beside me, telling me his story, which I am seasoned member replied, "I like to hear Jerry Woolpy's "In Search of God at relating here. what others have to say." We influence each Earlham" (Fj Sept.) succeeded in being both As he had bent over to pick up a other, and bring each other closer to a right informative and entertaining to me. His quarter &om the sidewalk, he saw a white spirit, when we experience each other concept of the superiority of the effect versus man watching him &om a window in a wrestling over a question with rruth and the actor's intentions of an act was basement apartment. The white man had compassion; a "sense of righmess" emerges particularly challenging. Although I am dashed to the sidewalk, where he accused from the group. substantially in agreement, Woolpy's the black man in angry tones of being a I'd say, by all means let's use e-mail and metaphor of the last $5 troubles me. peeping Tom, and had threatened him with save all that postage and paper, envelopes, Although money value is a familiar and violence. going to the mailbox, etc.-and mail the easily quantified concept, money cannot be We sat for a good part of an hour talking material to those who do not have e-mail converted into utilitarian wealth, like land or as he calmed down and finally could laugh without making them feel like second- labor, at a constant or even predictable rate. sardonically as he thought of his disquieting class citizens. Perhaps they are making a This volatility seriously dilutes the force of experience. Then we rose, shook hands, and valid wimess for simplicity: not buying the argument, another case of the he departed. I have since felt somewhat computer hardware, software, upgtades, corrupting power of money. disappointed that I never saw him again. supplies, and perhaps Internet access, simply Regrettably, many of us must do filthy I enjoy your editorials. to participate in the electronic world. I and exhausting work for $5 per hour. A few Stan Thompson believe almost all Friends who use fortunate individuals receive $100 per hour Eugene, Oreg. computers already do so for vocational (or for discharging pleasant and prestigious nonprofit volunteer) reasons, not because duties, which, curiously, are also considered they feel they must own the latest gadgets. work. Still fewer individuals do no work at Reaching decisions Since the technology is already in use, it is all yet enjoy a large income &om an sensible and economical to use it for Quaker inheritance or other unearned windf.ill.