Metamorphosis: Newsletter for Bellingham Friends Meeting
December, 2012

Advice and Query:
I don’t know where prayers go,
Or what they do.
Is a prayer a gift, or a petition,
Or does it matter?
The sunflowers blaze, maybe that’s their way,
Maybe the cats are sound asleep. Maybe not.

While I was thinking of this I happened to be standing
Just outside my door, with my notebook open,
Which is the way I begin every morning.
Then a wren in the privet began to sing.
He was positively drenched in enthusiasm,
I don’t know why. And yet, why not.
I wouldn’t persuade you from whatever you believe
Or whatever you don’t. That’s your business.
But I thought, of the wren’s singing, what could this be if it isn’t a prayer?
So I just listened, my pen in the air.

Mary Oliver’s “A Thousands Mornings”

Events:

The Kulshan Chorus will be singing at City Hall on MLK, Jr. Day, Monday, January 21, 2013 at noon.

There will be workshops during the previous weekend:

Second Hours and Special Events

“It is all hopeless. Even for a crabby optimist like me. Things couldn’t be worse. Everywhere you turn, our life and marriages and morale and government are falling to pieces. So many friends have broken children. Our planet does not seem long for this world. Repent! Oh well, never mind. I meant: Help. What I wanted my whole life was relief – from pressure, isolation, people’s suffering (including my own, which was mainly mental), and entire political administrations. That is really all I want now….”

So, begins the latest book, HELP THANKS WOW, written by Anne Lamott, known for her perceptive and funny writings about spirituality. Readers of all ages have followed her faith journey through decades of trial and error (sometimes more error than Annie wanted), and in her new book, she has coalesced all she knows about prayer to three essentials: Help, Thanks, and Wow. It is these three prayers – asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating all that we have and all that is good, and feeling awe at the beauty of the world around us – that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Anne Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas. Insightful, funny and honest, Help, Thanks, Wow is the everyday faith book that new Lamott readers will love and longtime Lamott fans will cherish.

Eco Suggestion for Pets – Do not use flea collars, as they are toxic to your cat or dog. Rubbing the fur with orange peel may deter fleas. Brush diatomaceous earth into carpet, then vacuum, close the bag tightly and discard in your toter. Use collars made of hemp or other natural fibers, rather than nylon. Cat litter made of organic materials – corn, wheat , pine or recycled newspaper is preferable to clay litter which has to be strip mined. These other materials clump and control odor, too.

Concern of the Month – Our concern of the Month is for Friends Peace Teams en las Americas. They are expanding Alternatives to Violence workshops in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia, which are all places where violence has been widespread.

Speak Truth to Power – Speak Truth to Power: Last year there were two bills introduced that would vitiate the important Lacey Act. The Lacey Act ensures that only legally-sourced wood and wood products are imported into the U.S. Please write to Rep. Rick Larsen and ask him to defend the Lacey Act against any attempts to weaken it and allow illegal loggers around the world to operate with impunity.