If the first two weeks of December were a bit routine, the last two were anything but. On the first Sunday we continued our study of Jim Pym's book Listening to the Light: How to Bring Quaker Simplicity and Integrity into Our Lives, with Aster serving as facilitator for that discussion. Second Sunday we held a Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, and the following worship hour brought out a couple of Friends who normally join only by Zoom. With two Friends joining virtually, one all the way from Edmond, OK, we were eleven in all that day. The culmination of much planning was the seasonal gathering on the 18th. Those who had volunteered to shop for the family whom we have helped for several years now brought the wrapped gifts. (After our gathering, those were delivered to that single mother and her five children.) With Friends joining both in person and online, we totaled 17 adults and four kids! The Young Friends lit candles; each child present received the gift of a book selected by our Young Friends program director, who also presented us with two additions to the library. Featured in both a gift book and new library book was Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), an African American leader in social movements for civil rights, nonviolence, and Gay rights. He was also a Quaker. Titles given to the children or procured for the library that day include Syria's Secret Library by Mike Thomson, Troublemaker for Justice: the Story of Bayard Rustin by Jacqueline Houtman, and picture book A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the 1963 March on Washington by Carol Boston Weatherford. Young Friends led us in two intergenerational crafts. We made Shrinky-Dinks using colored Sharpies, plastic sheets, and a toaster oven, and paper chains. The potluck that is becoming a third Sunday tradition coincided with the festivities. After the meal and good conversation, a few sang carols and other songs from Worship in Song: a Friends' Hymnal. One family drove in from their home in the shadow of Spring Mountain. We were so happy that they and others who cannot often make it to the meetinghouse were able to join us this day. At the end of December, a flash freeze resulted in a burst pipe and flooded kitchen. In times like these, we are grateful for the technology that allows us to come together virtually, which is just what some of us did. Those who joined online on the 25th shared on the topic of simple gifts.
What simple gifts came into your life in 2022?
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StewardshipOf all the Quaker values represented by the acronym SPICES, how often do we bring conscious attention to the last of these--that of being good stewards of our planet? In November, we gladly juggled calendar items to take advantage of the presence of our regular visitor from Baton Rouge Friends Meeting, Cpt. Dean Wilson. We thank him for his willingness to share with us his knowledge and experience as a longtime environmental activist and executive director of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, a non-profit and member of the Waterkeeper Alliance. Founded by Dean in 2004, its mission is to protect and restore the swamps, lakes, rivers, streams and bayous of the Atchafalaya Basin for future generations. The almost hour-long presentation to a full house was fascinating. If you would like to help Atchafalaya Basinkeeper in their quest to preserve this irreplaceable ecological treasure, visit their website. There you will find a donation button and many videos showing the vital work they do. SustenanceOn the sixteenth, after chanting and worship, we had our “third Sunday” potluck. Roasted vegetables, hearty breads, veggie chili and crunchy salads were nourishment to the body while fellowship fed the soul. SongAlso in November, regular attender Kelly shared with us a budding Quaker tradition of interfaith chanting that she experienced at a workshop during the Arkansas-Oklahoma spring quarterly meeting and again at the fall quarterly meeting. We have Tony and Patsy Martin of Roanoke Friends Meeting to thank for planting the seeds of this spreading custom of making a joyful noise, as Tony calls it. One of the chants for which we joined our voices was this passage from Hafiz that Tony has recorded for all to use. Save the DateSpeaking of quarterly meetings, it’s never too early to save the date on your calendar to join 20-30 other Friends from our two-state area for worship, workshops, communal meals, and enjoyment of a gorgeous natural setting. Little Rock Friends Meeting is pleased to host the AR-OK winter quarterly meeting at Lake Wister State Park in Oklahoma from February 24th to 26th, 2023. Stay tuned for details in another month or so. The cost will be nominal, and ride sharing is encouraged.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we--like so many other faith groups around the world--found that we could still come together virtually. It turns out that virtual togetherness via Zoom was not, in the end, just a second-rate substitute for face-to-face gathering to be cast aside as soon as lower COVID case numbers allowed for the reopening of the meetinghouse. We discovered that Zoom was an invaluable tool for accessibility, one that allows those kept home by illness, injury, disability or a great distance of miles to participate in the life of the Meeting. At the same time, many of us yearned once again for hugs, handshakes, and hot soup. Thus as the numbers of active cases in this county began to fall, we found ourselves seasoning from month to month the decision of whether to reopen the meetinghouse. The path back to meeting in person has not been linear. Thanks to a decision to make Zoom and a box full of peripherals a permanent part of our meeting, we have found ourselves able to respond nimbly to unexpected spikes in cases in the state as well as to very localized flareups, such as happened in October. It was not easy to make the call to cancel the 'third Sunday' potluck so soon after having scheduled that for each third Sunday. Happily, we found many other ways to continue building community in the month of October. We continued our journey in learning Compassionate Communication under the guidance of David. Being able to communicate in a non-violent way and connect in empathy with those we meet certainly strengthens community. On the third Sunday, Aster led us in discussing chapter one of Jim Pym's book Listening to the Light: How to Bring Quaker Simplicity and Integrity into Our Lives. Aster is a devoted builder of community; he offers his zines around town and to all who pass by the literature table in the meetinghouse. A discussion on the history of our monthly meeting led by relative newcomer Jenn on the twenty-third started the flow of a wellspring of knowledge from older generations to younger ones on the roots and founding of Little Rock Friends Meeting. Not only does our Quaker community stretch across time from founders to newcomers and across Zoom to bridge distance and other barriers, but it is a building block within a wider Quaker community. Every three months we have the opportunity to meet up in a beautiful setting with members of the other Friends Meetings and worship groups scattered around this two-state area. The first Sunday in October found three from Little Rock Friends Meeting missing from our midst, as they had travelled to Lake Wister State Park to spend the weekend worshiping, learning, singing, dancing, and breaking bread with Friends from Green Country (Tulsa), Stillwater, Fayetteville, Norman, Oklahoma City, and beyond. What does community mean to you?
September's highlights in the life of our meeting included participation in Arkansas Peace Week, the creation of our own tee shirts by Young Friends, and seeing Young Friend Imanu'elle read her essay at the Capitol rotunda after taking second place in her grade in the Arkansas Peace Week essay contest.
Our first-hour discussions ranged from beginning Jim Pym's Listening to the Light: How to Bring Quaker Simplicity and Integrity into Our Lives to a brief overview of Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) by John Coffin, who has helped facilitate AVP workshops with inmates at Tucker Unit of the Arkansas Department of Corrections for about eight years. In partnership with the Arkansas Coalition for Peace and Justice, Little Rock Friends hope to expand AVP beyond the walls of Tucker and into our local community, including into schools. We took Arkansas Peace Week as an opportunity to remind the public that our doors are always open; we welcome everyone to join us on any given Sunday for discussion hour (10:00), worship hour (11:00), or a bit of fellowship afterward (12:00-12:30ish). Colorful banners affixed to the meetinghouse's historic stone and wrought iron wall helped raise awareness of this yearly event. |