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GUNPOWDER FRIENDS MEETING NEWS, Web Edition for February, 2020
BELIEFS
Advices:
Gandhi said: Your beliefs become your thoughts Your thoughts become your words Your words become your actions Your actions become your habits Your habits become your values Your values become your destiny Jesus said: …You have heard that it was said: You shall not murder. And if you murder you shall be liable to judgment. But I say to you
If you are angry with someone, you shall be liable to judgment…turn the other cheek… Go the extra mile… Queries:
What do you spend most of your time thinking about? Do you spend most of your time thinking about what you (say you) believe? Or do you spend most of your time thinking about what you’re worried about? What you’re angry about? Who or what hurts you? What you’re defeated by? What you despair of? Who or what you resent? What you need? What you want? What tempts you and tests you?
If it is necessary, as Gandhi and Jesus suggest, for your beliefs, thoughts, words, and deeds to be integrated in order to live an authentic life, where will you begin? How will you begin?
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Are Gandhi’s words, as well as the words of Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-8), offered as law or wisdom? Edict or ‘good news’ ? If embraced (believed), where will their teachings lead you? The world?
ANNOUNCEMENTS
GUNPOWDER FRIENDS MEETING
BROADMEAD NEWS: The Broadmead Quaker Worship Group meets every Sunday from 11AM – 11:45AM in the Auditorium in the Center. Friendly visitors are most welcome. Quaker Lunch: The lunch will resume on Thursday, February 13th, 2020.
FORUM: FEBRUARY 9, 2020: Focus on Climate Change with guest presenter, Stan Wilson
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CHESAPEAKE QUARTERLY MEETING
CHESAPEAKE QUARTERLY MEETING: SUNDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2020: Program: “Finding Our Voices in Annapolis:2020”. Presented by the working group for Quaker Voice: www.quakervoicemd.org. See accompanying insert for more information.
Little Falls Meeting, 719 Old Fallston Road, Fallston, Maryland 21047.
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Seneca Village and Central Park
From a New York Times Opinion piece by Brent Staples, a member of the NYT Editorial Board, about the destruction in the 1850s of Seneca Village. “It was Manhattan’s first significant settlement of black property owners and the epicenter of black political power in Manhattan during the mid-19th century. The village occupied land along what is now Central Park’s western edge, between roughly 83rd and 89th Streets… https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/opinion/seneca-central-park-nyc.html
“New Yorkers who grew up with the fiction that slavery was limited to the South learned otherwise in 1991, when construction in Lower Manhattan unearthed hundreds of skeletons from a forgotten colonial-era cemetery that had served as the resting place of 15,000 Africans. The burial site, known since 2006 as the African Burial Ground National Monument, underscored the fact that New York City in the late 18th century was an epicenter of the slave trade, holding more Africans in chains than any other city in the country, with the possible exception of Charleston, S.C…
“New York City’s addiction to the immediate fruits of slave labor — and to the profits that it reaped from servicing the business needs of the South — made for a slow and tortured path to emancipation there. … New York [was] one of the last Northern states to abolish slavery…
“By this time [1817], white New York had taken steps to cripple African-Americans politically and economically. Black men had largely been banished from lucrative skill trades and relegated to subsistence jobs. To short-circuit black political empowerment, the State Legislature made voting rights for black men contingent upon ownership of property valued at $250 or more — even as it rolled back the property ownership requirement for white men. As a result, only 16 black men in Manhattan had the right to vote.”
Query: How might I seek out opportunities to learn about the history and experience of any marginalized group in the United States from their point of view? This column is prepared by the BYM Working Group on Racism (WGR) and sent to the designated liaison at each local Meeting. The BYM WGR meets most months on the third Saturday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Locations vary to allow access to more Friends. If you would like to attend, on a regular or a drop-in basis,
contact clerk David Etheridge, [email protected].
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Seeking your feedback for FCNL on March 1st Every other year the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) asks Gunpowder Friends Meeting, along with meetings, churches and organizations around the nation, to help discern legislative priorities. Priorities established now will guide FCNL’s work with the 117th Congress (2021-22), beginning January 2021. Using the four FCNL policy statements listed below as the framework, the specific issues we identify will be considered for the focus of FCNL’s future lobbying efforts.
The World We Seek:
We seek a world free of war and the threat of war
We seek a society
with equity and justice for all
We seek a community where every person’s potential may be fulfilled
We seek an earth restored
On March 1st, during Coffee Social time, Friends will be encouraged to provide feedback, following the process used for this purpose two years ago. Four sheets of paper will be posted on the Meetinghouse walls. Each will be headed with one of the policy statements. Sticky note pads will be provided on which to write your specific concerns as they relate to one of the four “We Seek…..” statements, affixing them to the statements to which they pertain. Prior to the FCNL’s April 10th due date, we will review the entries, collating and condensing the related statements to seven, each limited to 30 words or less as requested by FCNL. These will be submitted electronically for further discernment by FCNL.
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Join us for fellowship
Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting
Annapolis............Gunpowder...........Little Falls..........Homewood
Patapsco........Patuxent.............Sandy Spring.......Stony Run
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Little Falls Friends Meeting
719 Old Fallston Road
Fallston, MD 21047
Schedule:
10:00 Registration/coffee
10:30 Meeting for Worship
11:30 Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business: Sharing from
Meetings of current activities, concerns, upcoming events
12:30 Simple Meal
1:30 Presentation by Quaker Voice in Maryland: the 2020
Maryland General Assembly session, issues of interest to
Friends, and opportunities for Friends to share thoughts
3:30 Adjourn
Child care available upon request. Please send an email to [email protected] by 2/9/20
Chesapeake Quarterly Meeting (CQM) is all about relationships. Quakers from throughout Central Maryland come together to learn from each other and deepen our bonds. Please join us for a rich day at Little Falls!
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Fanning the Eternal Fla me Go to your bosom and knock there. Ask your heart what it doth know.
William Shakespeare from Measure to Measure
MARCH 13-14, 2020 FRIDAY 7-9:30 & SATURDAY 9:30-4:30
WITH
MARCELLE MARTIN
Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting Ministry and Counsel Committee is bringing Marcelle to our
community with the intention that we will be encouraged in our efforts to deepen our spiritual
lives in that which is eternal. We hope to be inspired with Light and Love in these complex and
trying times. Marcelle takes inspiration from early Friends to help us find the courage to become
all God has created us to be in our day. She draws on elements of the journey from the lives and
letters of early and contemporary Friends (e.g. longing, seeking, leadings, abiding).
Marcelle, author of Our Life is Love: The Quaker Spiritual Journey, has
led workshops and retreats across the country with a call to help nurture the
spiritual vitality and radical faithfulness of Friends and Quakerism today. For
four years she was the resident Quaker Studies teacher at Pendle Hill. She was
a core teacher in the School of the Spirit and the Mullen Writing Fellow at
Earlham School of Religion.
Cost: Suggested pay-as-led donation of $50 per person (includes program, beverages, snacks and lunch on Saturday)
Registration deadline; 2/29/2020 (Limit 40 participants) Child Care available upon request by February 29
For more information and/or to register contact:
Janey Pugsley [email protected] 240-463-2722
Becky Cromwell [email protected] 301-325-3549
Maria Horton [email protected] 410-309-2149
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SAVE THE DATE!!
Join us in Annapolis to urge our legislators to support critical initiatives.
Register NOW for this event to reserve your space.
When do we lobby? Wednesday, February 26 8:30am - 1:00pm
Where do we meet? Senate West 1 Meeting Room
Miller Senate Office Building
11 Bladen Street, Annapolis, MD 21401
What will we do?
8:30 -9:00 Lobby Day check-in and seating: Bagels, fruit, coffee & juice
9:00 - 9:30 Recognition of Senator Mike Miller and his contribution to Justice
Reinvestment
9:30 – 10:00 Lobby Day presentation, partnering, practice
10:00-12:30 Visit offices of legislators
12:30 Return with feedback
MAJR will supply fact sheets and talking points. We are making your appointment
right now. Legislators and their staff will be expecting you.
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2nd MONTH Sun 2/2 10AM Meeting for Worship; FDS 11:15AM Coffee Social/Letter-writing Sat 2/8 9AM Silent Retreat, simple lunch Contact: Anita Langford. 410-560-3595 Sun 2/9 10AM Meeting for Worship; FDS 11:15AM Forum: Focus on Climate Change Guest presenter, Stan Wilson Sun 2/16 10AM Meeting for Worship; FDS 11:15AM Meeting for Business Th 2/20 6PM Spiritual Formation Large Group S 2/23 9AM Bible Study
10AM Meeting for Worship; FDS 11:15AM Richard Rohr Study Group
*See announcements and articles for further details
The Web Edition of the Newsletter does not include minutes from Gunpowder’s Meeting for Business. Personal Information has been redacted. The full newsletter, complete with minutes, is available at the
Meetinghouse – attenders may also request the electronic or print edition.
Please feel free to inquire with Gunpowder’s Clerk at [email protected].
