Reflections on Meeting

9 Replies to “Reflections on Meeting”

1. In loving memory of our friend Doris Ferm, you may read some of her poetry here.

2. It is good to see Linda Lyman’s name in the comment section. When I lived in your community in the 1990s, Linda and I confronted political violence in Whatcom county in our own ways, but we shared a commitment to making the public arena truthful and safe. Reading the recent Cascadia Weekly article http://www.cascadiaweekly.com/currents/opinion/a_history_of_violence on the resurgence of political violence in the form of a hate campaign against American Indian tribal governments, I am hopeful the Quakers will once again be an active and effective force for peace and justice.
   –Jay Taber, San Francisco

3. Well, this certainly seems easy! Specifically, a Friend asked if we could have a place where Friends who are moved to speak during worship could leave a written note regarding their sharing, after Meeting for Worship, for the benefit of Friends who were not able to be present. Thoughts, everyone?

4. Virginia passed on the idea of having a place for messages from Meeting to get onto the website. Here’s one way that could happen. The blog is currently open to anyone. It will continue to be open as long as comments are appropriate.

5. Great ! It’s been like opening a door to treats you were unaware of. Thanks for talking/ sharing.

6. May 13, 2012
   My Dear Friends,
   Hello from Beijing. Thanks to Alice I got to the BellinghamFriends web site and have decided to tell you what’s going on here. First of all, I miss you and the Friends Meeting most of all. (Then I miss the wonderful music and arts community in Bellingham and the beauty of Western Washington along with it.) Life is going on well here, though. We are a good family which is just what I need. My wife “Kate” still hopes to get admitted to the U.S. for a visit. I’m going to re-retire at the end of June and since I my Chinese visa type will soon change we hope things will change regarding a visitors visa for her. Darned homeland security(??) is pretty unpredictable, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Our daughter has gotten a good job and has been working long days. It’s definitely a wake up for a socialite who has been in college for the past years. Well, it will be a long pull, honey!
   My family in Western Washington are all still kickin’ and getting older. My eldest sister is 70, I’m 67, and if the rest of the gang aren’t seniors yet, they soon will be. I ask myself, ‘When did this happen?’: sneaks up on you, you know. My mother is 95 and living near my sister in Granite Falls. She is getting weak and I have a strong feeling that this is her final year. We are all blessed with life in a prosperous and comfortable country, and my mother’s life has been long and good – weal, woes and all.
   As I’ve said, I wish I could be sitting in Meeting with you. Last time I was there I told all that I was working on my relationship with God. I still am; but, I am gaining clarity. My feeling is that all the stuff we can see and know is a physical manifestation of God: everything in the universe(s) from us to soil and rocks. My relationship to God then is to respect all and treat all with respect. I am swept off my feet with the greatness, depth and breadth of it all. But, where does that leave me: can I prey for help? prey for guidance? And how will I get it. If God is all that is, then that includes me. Perhaps when I prey I am fervently asking the God in me, “myself”, to find answers and ways. I like a statement by Dag Hammerskjold:
   “God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illuminated by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.”
   Love, Peace, Light to all of you,
   Tom Z

7. friends … i love you. i always enjoy sitting at monthly meeting, in the silence. i have always felt blessed that friends have always welcomed my atheist’s heart & mind in return for my spiritual company.

   i first attended a quaker event at the nascent northwest yearly meeting in 1979. in these years, as i’ve lost respect for most institutions around our national culture , i still cherish friends. in 32 years … sitting on the regional executive committee and regional peace committee of american friends service committee, and spending 3 weeks at the quaker retreat center at pendle hill in pennsylvania, attending friday afternoon peace vigils in downtown bellingham, i have lots of exeprience from which to say that friends are among the truly holy communities.

   i am visiting your website for the first time and i’ll admit that i surprised by the limited access to site pages that permeates your site, and the seeming insistence on membership for access. for me quakers include openness as part of the essential part of being friends.

   in any case … i love you. thanks for being who you are … don vanvalkenburgh

   1-360-758-7244

   lipotufu08@gmail.com

8. Dear Friend,

   I met a Quaker woman last Friday in Bellingham at the anti-war gathering. She invited me to Sunday worship. You may have heard her mention me. In which case I would appreciate if you would reassure her that I did not get lost – she feared I would have a hard time finding the place that you meet – It was just that I was unable to attend due to my daughter’s workshop schedule.

   Warm regards,

   P.S. I too say this is a beautiful website!

   Sherryll Harris
   Editor: The Canadian Friend

9. I a a member of the RSOF in Canada (Vancouver BC MM) formerly of Birmingham Friends Meeting in Great Britain.
   It is perhaps too far for me to travel to Vancouver for Meeting for Worship. Would I be welcome? (I winter in Mazatlan, Mexico with my Non Friend wife.)

   I am somewhat isolated here in Fort Langley BC, and would welcome an occasional opportunity to worship.

   Yours in Peace,

   Michael