Metamorphosis – May 2012

Metamorphosis: Newsletter for Bellingham Friends Meeting

 

Weekly Meetings for Worship are on Sunday @ 10-11 am.  Childcare is provided.

Monthly Meetings for Worship with Attention to Business are on the 2nd Sunday.

1601 Ellis Street in Bellingham, WA 98225               Phone:  (360) 734-0244

May’s Query:

Always Into Love

by Donna Faulds:

 

On this voyage of the soul,

May we be bridge builders,

Our common ground visible beneath the surface differences.

 

May we braid the threads of reconciliation

Into a chain of possibilities

That joins, heals, and includes what once seemed separate.

 

May our shared prayer be answered:

To grow so open that there is no “them” or “us,”

Only the One, moving always into love.

 

Calendar:

Sunday – May 6, 2012 – Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business (note change          due to Mother’s Day on the second Sunday).  Also on Sunday,  our annual Clerks’           Putluck Supper will begin at 5 pm at the home of The Halls’.

Monday – May 7th  – Book Group meets at the home of The Richardsons’ at 7 pm.  (This           group meets every second Monday of each month.)  We will be discussing two books:             The Devil’s Highway and Never Let Me Go.

Saturday – May 12th – Mothers’ March for Peace begins at The Farmer’s Market on Maple     and ends at the YWCA.  It is a family event with music and refreshments.

Sunday – May 13th  – Potluck Sunday (note change due to business meeting being held          of May 6th.)

Wednesday – May 16th  Whatcom Peace & Justice hosts a musical event at the Roeder        Home with Charlie King and Karen Brandow.  It starts at 7:30 pm and costs $10 at the             door.

Sunday – May 27th  – Second hour will be on “What does it mean to hold someone in the        Light?” with Howard Harris.

Thursday – June 14th The Spirit Group meets at Sharon Trent’s at 7 pm.

Monday – June 18th Celia Obrecht and Steven Hutchens will host a Soup Supper for those   interested in discussing The Crying Tree before the second hour on 6/24/12.

Sunday – June 24th Second hour will be a discussion about the book, The Crying Tree, with            the author, Naseem Rakha, present.  Naseem will also be at our Meeting for Worship           this day.

SAVE THE DATE:  Sunday – August 5th Annual picnic, with Meeting for Worship, at            Fairhaven Park Pavilion, 9:30 – 12:30 pm.

 

Correction: 

The date for the retreat at Quaker Cove is October 7, 2012, on a Sunday.

 

New Slate:

Our Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business showcased our newly approved slate of clerks/committee members.  Following a light lunch, which all enjoyed and definitely pleased the preparer, Judy Hopkinson began our meeting, following a brief silence,  with humility and enthusiasm.  Alice Robb recorded our minutes, and our “business” progressed  smoothly.  We’re excited to have fairly new attenders on our slate.

 

 

Clerks’ Supper:

This evening, May 6th, the outgoing and incoming clerks of committees met for a potluck dinner at the home of The Halls’.  It has been a tradition, for the past six or seven years, to gather at The Halls’ to acknowledge our new slate of clerks, share some insight about Quakerism, and express some wishes/hopes for the near future.  Tonight, we shared our experiences and impressions of the word “grace.”  It’s so enlightening to hear what others experience:  some things resonate with what one believes while others offer new perspectives.  I’d like to share what I experienced throughout this exercise:  individuals speaking from their hearts while the rest of us listened and learned, knowing that what we shared was safe within our surroundings; deliciously enjoying the food prepared by each other and the hospitality/warmth provided by Lorina and Tom Hall were all, indeed, an illustration of grace.

 

 

Eco-Suggestion of the Month: 

When buying cut flowers, look for organically grown. Veriflora certification guarantees flowers grown sustainably and in a labor-friendly way. Many flowers are grown with heavy uses of chemicals which can wash into waterways, kill fish, and work their way up the food chain. Some of the 127 pesticides used are linked to serious health problems among flower workers.

 

 

Concern of the Month: 

A basket was passed, and a collection was donated to give to Lydia’s Place, a refuge for women and children in crisis.

 

 

Speak Truth to Power:

A bill currently before Congress is the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act.  Many cleaning products, even if labeled “green,” may contain hormone disruptors, carcinogens and allergens, which do not appear on labels.

 

“Belissima”

We have a wonderful symphony here in Bellingham.  This afternoon was Maestro Roger Briggs’ final concert with the Whatcom  Symphony Orchestra, after conducting for 16 years.  The treat of the afternoon, in my humble opinion,  were three vignettes of 12 melodies:   Morning in India, High Noon in Seville, which contained three out of four pieces from Carmen, and Evening in Paris.  Dancers from “The Dance Studio” here in Bellingham performed in the Paris section with a seven minute display of dance, finalized with a lovely can-can.  The duets and harmony of guest artists and the Bellingham Chamber Chorale were mesmerizing.  The musicians displayed their talents, and when Dr. Briggs received his flowers, along with the guest artists, the audience shared in a memorable and delightful performance.  It was a real treat for Mother’s Day.

And so the root becomes a trunk and then a tree.

And seeds of trees and springtime sap and summer shade,

And autumn leaves and hope of poems and dreams

And more than a tree.

Langston Hughes