Smithfield Friends Newsletter May 2002 Smithfield Monthly Meeting of Friends 108 Smithfield Road Woonsocket, RI 02895 Vol.14________________________________________________________________________ No.139 Parsonage: 762-5726 Internet: www.smithfieldfriends.org Clerk: Richard Frechette Recording Clerk Connie Bair-Thompson Pastor: Marnie Miller-Gutsel Treasurer:Bruce Buteau Ministry&Counsel Rhoda Mowry Newsletter: Randy Oftedahl CALENDAR FOR May/June EVERY SUNDAY 10:30 am: MEETING FOR WORSHIP First Day school Child Care Available LAST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH: Unprogrammed Worship and Pot Luck Lunch OTHER WORSHIP UNDER THE CARE OF SMITHFIELD MEETING OR RI/SMITHFIELD QTLY. MTG. SECOND SUNDAY OF MONTH 7:00 PM: Unprogrammed Worship at Uxbridge Meetinghouse, Uxbridge, Mass EVERY WEDNESDAY 4:00 PM: Unprogrammed Worship and discussion at ACI(Maximum) Other events Sunday, June 2 worship will be led by Susan Furry, a Smithfield Meeting member currently sojourning in Cambridge Monthly Meeting for Business - following worship NEWSLETTER DEADLINE FOR SUMMER Sunday, June 30 First Day (+) Picnic at the Frechette's home - following Meeting for Worship Welcome to the world, tiny Friends!! Smithfield Meeting gives thanks for the arrival of Kaitlyn Renee Masse and Jenelle Rose Bair Thompson (See inside for details!) Letter from Marnie Dear Friends, May brings an interesting conjunction: Mother's Day and Memorial Day. I recently discovered that the germ of the idea for Mother's Day began with Julia Ward Howe, best known to most of us as the author of the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which she wrote early in the Civil War. It's a rousing hymn, and I remember singing it with considerable enthusiasm when I was a girl. Now I find a fierceness in it that troubles me. Julia was an abolitionist, and her words celebrate the Union cause-- the Union Army is the instrument of God's wrath against the slave states. However, as the war dragged on and its full horror was revealed, Julia must have had a change of heart, because after it was over, early in the 1870's, she wrote a very different set of words. They were addressed to the mothers of the world, and included this statement: "From the bosom of the devastated earth, a voice goes up with our own; it says, 'disarm, disarm'! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe out dishonor." She spoke of the women who had little left of their homes, and called for mothers to protest the training of their sons to injure the sons of other mothers. She hoped to see an international gathering of women in the cause of peace. She didn't get that, but she did get Mother's Peace Day started in 1872. Eventually that was supplanted by Mother's Day, proclaimed by President Wilson in 1914, and the call for mothers to work for the cause of world peace kind of fell by the wayside. Too bad. And so we come to Memorial Day. For years, I've been trying to rehabilitate Memorial Day. It began as a day to mourn and commemorate the Union dead, and there was a strong element of the desire never to do this again. That's how I mark it, but I include the dead of all wars, on all sides. If I can, I try to visit a cemetery, and sit near one of the graves where the little flags fly, and meditate either on the person who is buried there, or on one of my own kin. Fortunately, no one in my family has been directly killed or injured in any war since the Civil War, though I have two beloved uncles who are World War II veterans. But the stories of my Civil War ancestors are tragic and dreadful. Five men went; only one returned undamaged. One died of dysentery, but his body disappeared; his parents didn't even have anything to bury. One man wound up in the notorious Andersonville prison, and came home with a chronic infection which flared up periodically in bouts of terrible pain for the rest of his life--and he lived into his 70's. We need to remember these stories, and to mourn and commemorate these deaths. This is why I have little patience with Friends who carp about celebrating Memorial Day. Yes, people do turn it into a celebration of war, but it was not intended to do that, and it does not need to be celebrated that way. Quite the opposite. One of the best public anti-war speeches I've ever heard was the Memorial Day address given by a Presbyterian minister back when I lived in Delhi, in upstate New York. Wouldn't it be nice to recover Julia Ward Howe's idea for a Mother's Peace Day? In her own words, 'The sword of murder is not the balance of justice." "Seek peace and pursue it." --Psalm 34:14 Love, Marnie 1st Day School (+) Picnic The annual 1st Day School picnic will be held after worship on Sunday, June 30, at the Frechette home on 46 Cherry Brook Ave. North Smithfield. Don't be fooled by the name; the whole Meeting family is invited. Come swim, play bocce, or just chill out. Bring something for pot luck, and some extra lawn chairs would be helpful. About Us * Welcome to Kaitlyn Renee Masse, born on April 23 to Heather Bushnell Masse and Keith Masse, sister of Kimberly Anne Masse and granddaughter of Harry and Dot Bushnell. * And welcome to Jenelle Rose Bair Thompson, born on May 8 to Connie Bair-Thompson and Randy Thompson, sister of Andrew Thompson. * Jeanne Kinney, participating with the Friends of Aiden Ballou, has received a small grant from the Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission to produce a walking tour of the early Hopedale community. She is in the last stages of preparation of the tour. That - and actually living in the Aiden Ballou house - makes her feel like she has spent the last several months living in the 19th century... * Nigel King recently played the role of Smilin' Slade, a villian, in the Mount St. Charles production of Wagon Wheels West. The role included a solo performance in the musical. Doesn't everyone wish they could be the bad guy now and then - and be applauded for it?... * Diane O'Hara and Suzanne Frechette have completed a national Master Gardener program at URI and are now certified Master Gardeners. Besides receiving a heavy load of information about soil, flowers, insects and the like, the students provided (and will continue to provide) a variety of volunteer gardening-related services to the community. They stand ready to respond to your inquiries. * Liberty Goodwin has started work as administrative assistant for Environmental Council of RI. This gives her the joy of part-time flexible hours, reasonable pay, working for a group who is doing good things, AND the right to wear jeans and sneakers to work... Summer Is Coming! Check the Bulletin Board and the tables and racks in the foyer--there's something for everyone. For the kids: brochures for the Yearly Meeting Camp on Maine's China Lake. For High School students: Check out the brochure on the Bulletin Board for the two-week Explore-A-College program at Earlham College, a Quaker college in Richmond, IN. For a modest cost, you can find out if Earlham might be right for you by exploring actual college level courses and activities. And for the whole family, see the brochures for the FGC summer gathering in Normal ,IL, June 29-July 6. And don't forget to mark your calendars for our own New England Yearly Meeting beginning August 3. Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, May 5, 2002 2002-36 Opening Minute Smithfield Monthly Meeting met for a regularly scheduled meeting for worship with attention to business at noon on May 5, 2002. Richard Frechette was presiding clerk; thirteen Friends were present. We began with a period of waiting worship. 2002-37 Rhode Island Peace Mission Bob Sumner-Mack reported on behalf of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee that the Committee is enthusiastically supporting the Rhode Island Peace Mission. The Peace Mission is a coalition of religious and social action groups organized for the purpose of engaging in dialogue with the Rhode Island Congressional delegation on matters of U.S. foreign and military policy and alternative approaches to achieving international security. This coalition meets monthly to discuss these issues and has the goal of sending a rotating delegation to Washington DC every week to meet with one or more members of the Congressional delegation and their staff. Ideally, each participating group would commit to one DC journey per year. There is a growing list of groups that have made a commitment to witness to this effort, including the Southeastern New England effort of the American Friends Service Committee and the Providence Monthly Meeting. We are interested in adding our voice and presence to this effort. We approve becoming a formal organizational member and authorize the Peace & Social Concerns Committee delegates from our Meeting to participate in the monthly meetings and travel to Washington under the auspices of the Peace Mission at least once per year. 2002-38 Open Gathering to Pray for Peace Although interest in the corporate gathering on the third Thursday to pray for peace has waned, we are not discouraged, as corporate prayer is no more important or effective than personal or private prayer. We know that we need to pray for peace in good times and in bad. We will discontinue the monthly gatherings at our meetinghouse and will encourage Friends to individually continue praying for peace. We would also like to provide a new opportunity for corporate gathering to pray for peace at the monthly worship taking place at the Uxbridge Meetinghouse. If Friends who worship there at the May gathering agree, we will publicize (in the local press) that monthly gathering as one focused on peace. Following the gathering on the second Sunday of June, we will assess the degree of interest. 2002-39 Treasurer Our current Treasurer, Bruce Buteau, is now employed at a job that takes him away for long periods of time. We ask the Nominating Committee to work with Bruce on determining the most effective way to insure continuity of treasurer services. That may include the possibility of finding a Co-Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, or replacement Treasurer. Richard Frechette will serve on the nominating committee in Connie Bair-Thompson's stead, if she is unable to serve at this time because of the impending birth of a new child. 2002-40 Closing Minute No further business arising, Friends closed with a period of waiting worship, intending to meet again for business on June 2, 2002, God willing Respectfully submitted, Suzanne Frechette Recording Clerk pre temp The following Minute was approved by Cambridge Friends Meeting and is included in this newsletter for the interest of Smithfield Friends Peace and Social Concerns: Minute about finding a path toward lasting peace For Peace and Social Concerns Committee, Dinah Starr presented a revised version of a minute proposed April 11 asking that we, our country, and the world turn from the cycles of violence to a path leading toward global justice, reconciliation, and lasting peace. After prayerful discussion, Friends approved. Friends also approved distributing the minute widely, including to Friends meetings and organizations, other religious organizations, newspapers, and government officials. The Minute: Seven months ago we were shaken by the manifestation of violence and terror in our midst. We are dismayed that our government's responses to these tragedies have brought about the further militarization of our world and the loss of human rights and civil liberties here and abroad. We urge our country to lead the world away from this path of war. It is our belief that war is never the answer. It only increases and prolongs the violence and suffering and inspires others to respond in kind. Unless we wish to continue experiencing tragedy after tragedy, the world must walk down a different path - one towards global justice and reconciliation that strengthens the rule of international law, demonstrates respect for human rights, and breaks the cycle of violence. We call on our government to take part in this walk. With the recent explosion of violence and terrorism in the Middle East, it is urgent that this walk begin there now. We feel the US government should strongly urge all parties to end their acts of violence and help them to identify and address the root causes of that violence. We call upon our government to take immediate and strong diplomatic initiatives with the Israelis, Palestinians, and governments of neighboring states for (1) an immediate withdrawal by Israel of its forces from territories previously controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, (2) an immediate cessation of all violence - Israelis must stop attacking Palestinians; Palestinians must stop attacking Israelis - to be enforced by a multinational peacekeeping mission; and (3) the resumption of negotiations with the stated goal of the creation of a viable Palestinian state with specific mechanisms that insure the human, social, religious, and economic rights as well as the safety of both Israelis and Palestinians. We believe terrorism will continue to exist where there is oppression, poverty, hopelessness, and fear. In order to extend the walk toward global justice and reconciliation beyond the Middle East, we call on our government to end its "war on terrorism" and replace it with a campaign for justice and reconciliation. Only then can we expect peace. We continue to pray that God will show us a way to identify and address the underlying causes of these tragedies and find the path of true and lasting peace. -Friends Meeting at Cambridge To consider mankind otherwise than brethren, to think favours are peculiar to one nation and exclude others, plainly supposes a darkness of understanding. For as God's love is universal, so where the mind is sufficiently influenced by it, it begets a likeness of itself and the heart is enlarged towards all men. -John Woolman, Journal Smithfield Monthly Meeting of Friends 108 Smithfield Road Woonsocket, RI 02895