Metamorphosis – August 2013

Metamorphosis is the newsletter for Bellingham Friends Meeting.  We meet at 1701 Ellis Street each Sunday morning.  Silent worship begins at 10 am, followed by refreshments and conversation.

Query:   Take time to learn about other people’s experiences of the Light.  Remember the importance of the Bible, the writings of Friends and all writings which reveal the ways of God.  As you learn from others, how can you in turn give freely from what you have gained?  While respecting the experiences and opinions of others, do not be afraid to say what you have found, and what you value. Appreciate that doubt and questioning can also lead to spiritual growth and to a greater awareness of the Light that is in us all.

 

Upcoming Schedule: 

August 4, 2013 – Potluck Sunday [THIS IS THE DAY FOR BRINGING  NONPERISHABLE FOOD DONATIONS FOR THE FOOD BANK.]

August 11, 2013 – Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business

August 12, 2013 -The next book group will meet on Monday.  We will be discussing Still Alice, starting at 7 pm.

August 15, 2013 – The next spirit group will meet at 7 pm.  We’ll be discussing chapter 3 of friends for 350 years.

August 18, 2013 – Celebration of Rob Dillard’s membership:  a time of fellowship. There will be cake! Friends are welcome to bring finger food items if they are so moved.

August 25, 2013 – FGC Report by Joanne Cowan, our sponsored attender, and other attenders this year, according to their willingness and availability.

September 27-29, 2013 Fall Quarterly Meeting, with the theme:  Let the Living Waters Flow

We need 10-12 people, 2 for each age group from toddlers through middle schoolers, at Quarterly Meeting, Sept. 27-29. Teachers receive a full fee waiver and a $50 stipend for being a consistent presence with our children throughout the weekend. Help is available for planning activities; volunteers will rotate to help you. If you are interested in this joyful   ministry, please contact Katherine Spinner,  qkluddite@gmail.com, 206-335-1732.

The deadline for early registration, with a $10 discount per form, is August 28. The main registration deadline, after which a late registration fee of $25 per form will be charged, is September 11th.

Other Gatherings:  An 18-hour workshop on Alternatives to Violence Project has been rescheduled  to take place in the Spring of 2014.

 

 

BeFriending Creation – Bi-monthly newsletter of Quaker Earthcare Witness – July/August 2013

Greetings Friends,

We hope you’re relaxing and enjoying your summer, whether you are traveling about and visiting Friends or staying home and tending your garden.  We’ve been referring to this issue of BeFriending Creation as our “summer lite” issue because we planned to publish a shorter issue with content designed to give you space and time for reflection.

The phrase, “summer lite,” inspired Publications Clerk Tom Small to adapt portions of an essay, “A Yardful of Yellow Flowers:  Celebrating the Sun,” from the book that he co-authored with his late wife Nancy Small, Using Native Plants to Restore Community (2011).  Nancy, a member of FCUN’s Publications Committee from 1993 to 2000, passed in 2009.  Also in this issue, you’ll find our letter to President Obama on his climate change plan; an encouraging article by Mary Gilbert about big changes at the UN; a statement from QEW’s UN working group; and updates from Shelley Tanenbum, Clerk, and Anne Mitchell, General Secretary.  They share the experiences at the QEW Steering Committee meeting in Boulder, CO, and the Gathering in Greeley, CO.  Enjoy!

 

 

BIG CHANGES at the UN by Mary Gilbert, QEW Representative to the United Nations

I have never seen the like, not at the UN!  The countries are taking seriously the threats human activity has brought to the environment’s ability to host us and other species.  They get it!  Best of all, they get that it is really one problem of stunning complexity.  The word nexus, meaning interactive connections within a complex system, was in frequent use, and the phrases silo thinking and sectional approach – in which, say, the agriculture, water and financial sectors are considered separately – were disparaged.  TO READ MORE, PLEASE GO TO:  infor@quakerearthcare.org  volume 26 #4 July-August 2012.

 

VARIATIONS ON “Summer Light” by Tom Small, Publications Clerk

flowers

Quakers hold one another in the light.  Summer Light  holds us, enveloping and embracing quiet days.  The very air is bright as the yellow flowers of July and August gather sunlight and offer, in return, an earthly reflection of celestial energy.  My favorite image of full-blown     summer is our yardful of yellow prairie flowers, native to this place on Earth, full of its spirit, history and potency.

A Letter to President Obama

Dear QEW Friends,

Quaker Earthcare Witness encourages all Friends, monthly and yearly meetings to thank President Obama for his planned action on climate change.  We see the need for a groundswell of support to counter expected strong apposition.  These proposals are long overdue and represent a first step in what is needed.  We encourage Friends to communicate their support of urgent action on climate change to U.S. Senators and Representatives.

July 4, 2013

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Obama,

Quaker Earthcare Witness of the Religious Society of Friends is very grateful to you for your major          address on the U.S. Response to climate change.  We support your plans to use Executive Orders due to the urgency of climate change and the failure of Congress to take positive action.  It is important to act now because climate change is impacting our environment more severely than previously anticipated, as indicated by the increasing frequency of extreme weather events           across the globe (droughts, floods, heat waves, hurricanes, and tornadoes).  The resulting loss of topsoil and fresh water leads to widespread crop failure, food insecurity, and species extinction.  Your proposals are a welcome first step in responding to the climate crisis.  This community looks forward to working with you as together we move toward a healthy and vibrant low-carbon economy.

In Friendship,

Shelley Tanenbaum, Clerk (President)

Anne Mitchell, General Secretary

 

Joy…

Brianna Richardson and John Rossi will be married October 5, of this year, and they invite Bellingham Friends who have known her over the years to attend the wedding.  Since space at the venue is limited, and because the event will be catered, we need to know in advance who plans to attend. So that we can make arrangements, please let Susan know by September 1 if you plan to attend.

 

And Finally…

This summer, I have had the privilege of enjoying two of Bellingham’s annual summer offerings:  The Marrowstone Music Festival and The Missoula Children’s Theater.  For $15 and a short, 50 cents bus ride, I was able to experience the beautiful sounds of the Marrowstone Concert and Festival Orchestras in the stimulating atmosphere of Western ‘s Performing Art Center.  Marrowstone is the premier orchestra training program of the Pacific Northwest.  I then experienced the progression of five days of theater camp for elementary and adolescent kids in the beautiful Mount Baker Theater.  The culminating presentation of “Blackbeard the Pirate” was so enjoyable and humorous, with gorgeous costumes and set decoration, enthusiastic participants, and well organized staff and volunteers.  This cost $7, and where could one better attend an indoor concert?  Please consider supporting both of these organizations in the future.

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