Smithfield Friends Newsletter Summer 2002 Smithfield Monthly Meeting of Friends 108 Smithfield Road Woonsocket, RI 02895 Vol.14________________________________________________________________________ No.140 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 June/July/August EVERY SUNDAY 10:30 am: MEETING FOR WORSHIP 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 4:00 PM: Unprogrammed Worship at Uxbridge Meetinghouse, Uxbridge, Mass EVERY WEDNESDAY 4:00 PM: Unprogrammed Worship and discussion at ACI(Maximum) Other events Sunday, June 30 Smithfield Friends "First Day School Plus" pot luck picnic at the Frechette's home following Meeting for Worship. August 3 - 8 New England Yearly Meeting at Wheaton College Sunday, Sept 8 Monthly Meeting for Business Fall Meeting Schedule resumes NEWSLETTER DEADLINE Another Friendly Reminder!: 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. Directions at the Meetinghouse, or ask Richard or Suzanne at 769-4433 Letter from Marnie Dear Friends, It's good to be back from Virginia, where I was looking after my parents. I always go by train, and the countryside outside the windows is especially beautiful in late spring. In Connecticut, the tracks run right along the shore, past salt meadows, bays and inlets. Egrets fish in the creeks, and flocks of ducks bob on the water. I even saw a couple of swans--they now nest regularly all around the Sound. From New York to D.C. its all pretty urban, but southward from there the land is very low and watery, even though it's well inland. There are slow brown rivers and tiny creeks, and many swamps. I am a great lover of swamps, especially in spring, when the red-winged blackbirds are very busy and the open patches of water are almost hidden by the flat green leaves and exotic pink and white blossoms of water lilies. So although I always bring a book, I also spend a lot of time gazing out at the scenery. But on the train coming home, I saw something I think was a disturbing sign of the times. Across the aisle was a young man sitting hunched over his laptop. He was there when I got on, and he was still on when I got off. And as far as I could tell, he stayed hunched over his machine the entire time. He never looked out the window. I never saw him get up (though how anybody can ride for 9 hours without even a visit to the rest room I don't know--maybe he went when I was in the cafe car) I didn't see him with anything to eat--not even a cup of coffee. It was all rather strange. And not good. We Americans seem to spend more and more time attached to machines and less and less time connecting with other human beings or with the natural world. Don't get me wrong--computers are useful tools, and I wish I had gotten my first word processor long before I finally did. But we are letting the machines set the pace and shape of our lives. I can't believe this is good for us either physically, emotionally, or spiritually. And when our handy mechanical world breaks down or is disrupted (as happened most dramatically on 9/11, though small scale disruptions are common), we hardly know what to do with ourselves. I wonder if many of us are in danger of forgetting what really nourishes us-and it's not our electronic hookups. Psalm 104 and many other texts speak of how God feeds us through the natural world: "God waters the mountains from the upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of God's work." (v.13). It goes on to speak of how God gives humans "food from the earth.... and bread that sustains their hearts." (vv. 14-15) That last line suggests that the natural world is given to us not only to provide for our physical needs, but to nourish our hearts and our souls as well. I want to close by sharing with you a beautiful little observation by Wendell Berry, the American poet, writer, and farmer--it's a reminder of what can come to us through the natural world--if we let it: "When despair for the world grows in me and I waken in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. "I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day blind stars waiting with their light. For I time rest in the grace of the world and am free." Peace and a blessed summer rest to you all-- Marnie Yearly Meeting Sessions--New Location It's time to make plans for Yearly Meeting sessions which begin Saturday, August 3 and run through lunch on Thursday August 8. We're in a new location this year--Wheaton College, in Norton MA. Details are available in the latest New England Friend. If you haven't received a copy in the mail, extras will be available on the table in the foyer. There's a discount for all registrations postmarked before July 5. Financial assistance is available. Ramallah School Update The Ramallah Friends Schools are finally up and running again after being stuck by Israeli rockets on December 13, 2001. Fortunately, not too much further damage occurred, although there was some unnecessary and stupid interior damage done when Israeli soldiers searched the buildings. There are some interesting accounts of the events in the latest issue of Quaker Life. Unfortunately most of the families of students who could afford to pay their own way have decided to move out of the area, so the greatest immediate financial need is for scholarship funds to support the remaining students. Friends who are moved to help may send contributions to: RFS Scholarship Fund, Friends United Meeting, 101 Quaker Hill Drive, Richmond, IN 47374 From the American Friends Service Committee - Southeastern New England Join Us In Speaking Out Against War Wednesday, September 11, 2002, marks the one-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. National attention will again be focussed on those tragic events. The American Friends Service Committee in Southeastern New England plans to take out a full-page advertisement in the Providence Journal on that date acknowledging the anniversary and speaking out against the wars abroad and curtailment of civil liberties at home which have characterized our government's response to the tragic events of 9/11.* Those misguided foreign and domestic policies have enjoyed significant bi-partisan political support in Washington, D.C., and strong popular support among the American people. Yet that support has not been nearly as universal as some in the media have portrayed it. Through our full-page advertisement, we seek to: · Publicize the dissent that exists already, dissent which often gets short shrift in the mainstream media; · Invite our friends and neighbors to join us; · Emphasize to our elected representatives our opposition to war abroad and curtailment of civil liberties at home. We Ask You To Join Us The full-page advertisement in the Providence Journal will cost approximately $11,000. We seek to raise that money by having hundreds -- and perhaps a thousand or more -- individuals in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts sign the ad and contribute toward its publication. We ask each person signing the ad to contribute a minimum of $25 toward its publication. You can help us reach that goal by: · Signing the ad yourself; · Contributing toward its publication; · Seeking additional signatures from your friends, neighbors, and others in the community. -continued on next page- Text of the Ad Deadline for signatures: Wednesday, August 28, 2002. To participate, complete and return the coupon below. * Depending on the success of this project, we may either take out less than a full-page ad in the Journal, or, funds permitting, additional ads in other daily or weekly newspapers in Southeastern New England. Your response will help determine how much we are able to do! Return Coupon to: AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE 372 Wayland Avenue, Providence, RI 02906. Phone: (401) 521-3584 I, _____________________, am aware that my name will be published in an advertisement in the Providence Journal. I hereby give my permission for the Providence Journal Company to use my name as part of the advertisement sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee. _____________________________________ [Signature] [Signing this Release form is required by the newspaper. Please do not return coupon without signing this release.] _____ I enclose a contribution of _______ [Suggested donation: $25 individuals; $40 couple or domestic partners; $10 students and low-income people.] _____ I enclose an additional contribution of $ _____ to help pay for the advertisement and to provide scholarships for low-income signers. N.B.: Your address, telephone, and e-mail will not be published; this is for our record-keeping only. Name (print): ________________________________________ Telephone: ______________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ E-mail: _____________________________________________________________________ The Light for which the world longs is already shining. It is shining into the darkness, but the darkness does not apprehend it. It is shining into the darkness, but the darkness is not overcoming it. It is shining in many a soul and already the new order has begun within the kingdom of the heart. It is shining in many a small group and creating a heavenly-earthly fellowship of Children of the Light. It will always shine and lead many into the world of need, that they may bear it up into the heart of God. -Thomas Kelly, The Eternal Promise Smithfield Monthly Meeting of Friends 108 Smithfield Road Woonsocket, RI 02895