Happy 400th, George Fox

The month of July in the life of our meeting held many events and endeavors that might well have received a nod of approval from the founder of the Religious Society of Friends, whose 400th birthday is being celebrated this year--and especially this month--across the wide Quaker world.

Elise got us started on the first Sunday with a very well researched, well organized, and engaging slide show presentation to help us learn more about the Quapaw, Osage, and Caddo, their history, culture, and forcible removal from this area. Elise managed, in 50 minutes, to bring home the most important pieces without oversimplifying. Through YouTube clips, she allowed the people about whom we were learning to speak to us directly about the traditions, art, skills and languages they are trying to preserve. This presentation was part of our process of crafting and adopting an Indigenous Land acknowledgement statement. Recognizing that a land acknowledgment statement alone is insufficient, we are committed to accompanying it with ongoing self-education and meaningful acts of reparation, such as adding a Native American organization to the roster of groups that we support monetarily.

On the eleventh, we started our peace and social justice film series by showing Raamro Aakha Ma (In the Eyes of the Good), a documentary that tells the story of former Maoist combatants, conflict victims, and government officials engaging in a restorative dialogue, following the aftermath of the 10-years armed conflict in Nepal. It shows what can happen when people are able to connect with one another across divides, beyond fear, stereotypes, and enemy images. The goal was to offer those involved with the transitional justice process in Nepal an opportunity to experience a restorative dialogue firsthand and to raise awareness about Nonviolent Communication and restorative dialogue as tools for healing, reconciliation, and justice. NVC, or its non-certified-facilitator sister Compassionate Communication, is one of Little Rock Friends Meeting's central ministries. Movie night was successful; there were many members and one visitor in attendance.

More Compassionate Communication took place at Iris House in Conway on the tenth when David taught us how to use Grok cards to facilitate empathetic listening. ​

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On the second Sunday, Friend Tina led us through looking at chapter two of Douglas V. Steere's work Prayer and Worship. That discussion, worship hour, and the monthly potluck were enjoyed by all who attended. Steere (1901-1995) was an American Quaker ecumenist. From Wikipedia: Steere organized Quaker post-war relief work in Finland, Norway and Poland, was invited to participate as an ecumenical observer in the Second Vatican Council and co-founded the Ecumenical Institute of Spirituality. He authored, edited, translated and wrote introductions for many books on Quakerism, as well as other religions and philosophy.

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Third Sunday not only brought us to our meeting for worshipful business, but we were also cheered to be joined by our Dardanelle Friends, all five of them. To welcome them and tide us over into a clearness committee, we sat down to a meal together. The flowers in the beautiful bouquet on the table, which included cockscomb and giant zinnias, were joyfully grown in Harkey's Valley. The assembly of the bouquet was lovingly inspected by Jenna the donkey, who oversees quality control of the flower farm.

Some of the month's business, worshipfully considered, included concerns around the fact that the focus and work of the Care Committee seem to be drifting and the need to get the nominating committee's work rolling, With Arkansas Peace Week right around the corner, there were many 'save the date' type of announcements to ensure nobody misses out on the eight days of events coordinated collaboratively by World Beyond War, Arkansas Coalition for Peace & Justice (ACPJ), and our Meeting--with due gratitude to Friend John for all his peacemaker field work.

Fourth Sunday was once again devoted to our ongoing course on Compassionate Communication. We did a check-in with one another, sharing how we are each doing in our respective journeys as we attempt to incorporate this empathetic way of relating into our lives. Many Friends had success stories to share, and we were happy to greet a previous fourth Sunday visitor who has a great interest in this subject.

In July, four centuries after the birth of our movement’s founder, our gathering was spiritually vibrant and deeply engaged with the themes of peace and social justice. Though we did not officially mark the anniversary of Fox's birth, we took this time to reflect on how our meeting’s life embodies and extends his message of simplicity, non-violence, equality, community, and environmental stewardship to every newcomer and member.