As part of the 10th Anniversary of the Sculpture Garden in downtown Des Moines, people were invited to submit one piece of art. Those selected were displayed at the Sculpture Park this afternoon. https://www.desmoinesartcenter.org/visit/pappajohn-sculpture-park
Sculpture Garden Des Moines, Iowa
I was having trouble deciding which photo I wanted to submit, so I posted several on Facebook and asked people to vote for the best one. The one with the most votes was also my favorite, but I appreciated the responses.
That photo was one of the selections. Unfortunately it was an overcast afternoon with rain on the way. I got there just in time.
I need to get Reza and Alton to teach me how to take better selfies.
Some of the other photos I was trying to choose from.
When you and your community can create its own shine there’s nothing beyond reach.
Diop Adisa
Hurricane Dorian’s devastation in the Bahamas is a visual testament to warnings of increasingly powerful storms as a result of warmer water and air temperatures. It is no longer possible to avoid seeing environmental chaos is happening now, rather than something that might occur in the future. Other places in the world have been subjected to this chaos for years. The number of climate refugees from the Bahamas are added to the millions of those from around the world.
What are you willing to do for your children? Your grandchildren? How far will you go? What is your truth when it comes to the edge? Well it’s time to go to your edge, or else your children’s future is over! Let this be the wake up to take action. In your life. In your community. Now is all we have and our opportunity to make a difference is slipping by rapidly. Quit thinking about the change you want to see and just be it! Today! NOW! Later is no longer an option….
Joshua Taflinger
From Extinction Rebellion to the School Strikes — A New Climate Movement?
September 20th there will be a global climate strike. Students around the world will leave classes. Workers around the world will leave their jobs. I’ve been involved with a lot of environmental organizations and climate actions. This feels like something bigger and more effective. In part because of how young people globally are understanding the serious situation we’re in now. And more invested in solutions because the evolving environmental catastrophe will shape their lives, for their entire lives.
I’ve attended just one online training session about the Global Climate Strike so far, but it was the best one I’ve ever attended. Step by step we were led through what barriers we could identify in creating a local action. And specific steps to address each of these barriers. To think of people we know, who would be likely go join us in an action, and who would be most reluctant. And how to address that reluctance. The entire hour presentation was interactive. It moved away from generalizations to specifics.
If you’ve felt helpless about what to do about the evolving environmental destruction and chaos, this is your chance. This is also an opportunity I would urge you to use to connect with youth (if you aren’t one). You can explore the Global Climate Strike website: https://globalclimatestrike.net/online-trainings/
To practice hope is to face hard truths, harder truths than you can face without the practice of hope. You can’t navigate dark places without a light, and hope is that light for humanity’s dark places.
Quinn Norton
Can you face the hard truths of environmental collapse?
Can you face the utter devastation of the Bahamas?
Can you navigate your terror that you will likely experience environmental chaos yourself, if you haven’t already?
Can you face you are culpable for the rape of Mother Earth?
Can you admit your culpability to your children and the youth of the world?
Can you face that systems you have depended upon are failing?
Can you humbly ask indigenous people to teach you how to love Mother Earth?
Can you face the Spirit, whose warnings you ignored?
Can you humbly ask the Spirit for guidance now?
Can you navigate these dark places? Will you use hope as the light to find the path through? Will you listen for the Spirit to show you how to build a global Beloved community?
We desperately need people who will practice hope now. Will you?
Besides the utter devastation of the Bahamas, today we are seeing tragic images of U.S Atlantic coastal flooding from Hurricane Dorian. Flooding that will only become worse as water and air temperatures continue rise from increasing greenhouse gas concentrations.
In a second study, a team of distinguished scientists argues that the US should face the inevitable and begin to plan for a managed, strategic retreat from its own coasts. At the heart of both studies is a set of new realities imposed by a rapidly-heating ocean and higher air temperatures worldwide. As the icecaps of Greenland and Antarctica melt, and as the glaciers of Canada and Alaska retreat, so sea levels have begun to rise inexorably.
But as the oceans increase in average temperature, thanks to an ever-warmer atmosphere driven by greenhouse gases from profligate combustion of fossil fuels, so the oceans have begun to expand: warmer waters are less dense, and thus higher.
“We need to stop picturing our relationship with nature as a war. We’re not winning or losing, we’re adjusting to changes in nature” And there is a third factor. With warmer seas there will be more frequent and more violent hurricanes and windstorms, more damaging storm surges and yet more torrential rainfall.
By the century’s end, millions of US citizens could become climate refugees. A study of US counties vulnerable to sea level rise warns that if the coasts are not protected, the movement of people could match the scale of the 20th-century “Great Migration” of African-Americans from the south to the northern states.
Altogether, the new research concludes, more than 13 million people could be affected by a sea level rise of 1.8 metres. This is the high end of climate science projections for sea level rise, but even at the low end a rise of 0.9 metres will put more than 4 million people at risk.
We’re seeing thousands of cars traveling away from the flood zones, both sides of Interstate highways moving in the same direction. It is good to see shelters open for people who have evacuated, and transportation to those shelters in some cases.
Faced with global warming, rising sea levels, and the climate-related extremes they intensify, the question is no longer whether some communities will retreat—moving people and assets out of harm’s way—but why, where, when, and how they will retreat. To the extent that retreat is already happening, it is typically ad hoc and focused on risk reduction in isolation from broader societal goals. It is also frequently inequitable and often ignores the communities left behind or those receiving people who retreat. Retreat has been seen largely as a last resort, a failure to adapt, or a one-time emergency action; thus, little research has focused on retreat, leaving practitioners with little guidance. Such a narrow conception of retreat has limited decision-makers’ perception of the tools available and stilted innovation. We propose a reconceptualization of retreat as a suite of adaptation options that are both strategic and managed. Strategy integrates retreat into long-term development goals and identifies why retreat should occur and, in doing so, influences where and when. Management addresses how retreat is executed. By reconceptualizing retreat as a set of tools used to achieve societal goals, communities and nations gain additional adaptation options and a better chance of choosing the actions most likely to help their communities thrive.
After the storm passes,it appears these climate refugees get little help to figure out what their next steps should be. The first decision is whether to return and rebuild, or leave. If the decision is to rebuild, houses and communities should be built for the future, with the ability to withstand hurricane force winds, rising water. Serious consideration should be given to the self contained renewable energy generation and storage.
I’ve wondered how wise it was to try to rebuild Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. The damage there was not nearly as severe as it is in the Bahamas, where it seems less likely significant rebuilding can, or perhaps should, occur.
“One major challenge with retreat is that we’re so focused on getting people out of harm’s way, we miss the chance to help them move to opportunity.”
The researchers take the long view, noting that retreat may be the answer to climate change in some areas, but it may not be a step that’s necessary this year or even this decade.
“The challenge is to prepare for long-term retreat by limiting development in at-risk areas,” they write, and making plans for further action based on responding to specific triggers and constantly monitoring and evaluating conditions.
“The story of retreat as a climate response is just beginning,” Mach said. “Retreat is compelling because it brings together so many aspects of how societies work, what individuals are trying to achieve and what it takes to ensure preparedness and resilience in a changing climate.”
The paper makes note of a variety of areas where additional work is needed, including coordination of various levels of government and support for relocation assistance programs. First, Siders said, communities must identify which areas they most want to protect and how to encourage and assist relocation.
“Managed retreat needs to be embedded in larger conversations and social programs,” she said. “Retreat can’t be just about avoiding risk. It needs to be about moving toward something better.”
I’ve written a great deal about the Kheprw Institute (KI), who has partnered with North Meadow Circle of Friends on the AFSC program, Quaker Social Change Ministry. In this article that was published in NUVO magazine, Diop Adisa talks about his music, and about the influence of his father, Imhotep Adisa. Diop has become a good friend of mine. We’ve had numerous conversations about music and photography.
The following is from an email exchange we had in January, 2016.
Hi Diop, I hope you are well. I’m writing for a couple of reasons. One is that I’ve been suggesting that some of the folks at the Quaker meeting, North Meadow, who are interested in what’s going on at KI might listen to (buy!) your music.
As you know, I really like “YardWork”, especially. Do you have the lyrics written down somewhere for it, since I’m having trouble making out some of the words just by listening, that you could send me?
You don’t object to us using your work this way, do you? Are there other songs you might recommend?
Have you written in a blog or anything about the what prompted you to write this song, or what it means to you?
Please don’t go to any trouble with any of this. It’s just that there are a lot of Quakers, 99% of whom are white, that are truly interested in learning more about these things, and just don’t know how to go about it. Since music is a universal language, I was hoping this might somehow help them. Thanks, Jeff
Hey Jeff
Unfortunately I don’t have the lyrics written down anywhere, but I can write them down at some point and send them to you. I definitely don’t object to you all using my work in this way. I created it to provoke critical thoughts and dialogue, so feel free to use any of my material. I haven’t written in a blog about what prompted me to write YardWork but i probably should at some point. I would recommend “Decay Day” “The Error Era” & “Driving On Faith” http://dioooop.bandcamp.com/album/driving-on-faith
Also I did a 3 song collaboration with two other artists called synergy in exile which has some pretty good thought provoking material on it as well. https://synergyinexile.bandcamp.com/releases
Thanks, Diop
I just saw the documentary Still Shinin about and by Diop. I think it is excellent and highly recommend it.
Born and raised in Indianapolis, Menelik Diop Adisa, popularly known as Diop, is a community based activist and hip hop artist fueled by social and Black consciousness. As the son of two entrepreneurs and the founders of The Kheprw Institute, community building, activism and creative stimulation have not been unfamiliar to him. The release of his 2018 album Still Shinin’ was not only evidence of his range as an artist and a producer, but it also gave his audience a glimpse of his reality leaving an impact on others in need of healing.
With the help of the Create Indy Grant and a team of visionaries including Keenan Rhodes and Jamil Buchan, Diop was able to develop a visual piece aligning with the central themes of his album. Incorporating interviews from various Indiana based artists including Willis, Baby Ebony and Kid, the documentary not only serves as a marker of the innovation and creativity that exists behind the Indianapolis Hip-Hop scene, but also as a means to encourage open dialogue about pain and trauma in a community whose struggle is often overlooked.
actually the phrase is when you and your community can create its own shine there’s nothing beyond reach thank you and that’s basically just about empowerment and continually investing yourself if you invest in yourself and you invest in your community then you always put yourself in a position to thrive and grow and I think that’s what’s still shining means and for me creating this album was a form of healing and transferring trauma I’m tied to the things I was experiencing and I felt like if I could take the trauma and the difficulties of my life and pour them into my artistic passion then I’m taking this energy and investing it back into myself which is then creating more opportunity for me and the people are representing connected to the shine so I felt like it was only applicable to name the album that because it came out of that experience and then another thing is I wanted people to if they heard it and embodied it themselves if they took the words on for themselves it would make them feel empowered it would make them feel like they should continue to live continue to grow and continue to thrive
We are just receiving images from the horrific devastation of the Bahamas. A recent news segment showed a reporter in a wind tunnel at different wind speeds. That was a very graphic and useful thing to see. But they wouldn’t increase the speed above 112 mph. Dorian’s winds were 185 mph with gusts up to about 220 mph. I can’t imagine living with those winds and rain for 48 hours.
The small number of us who have tried to bring attention to the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions for years have obviously been unsuccessful. There are indications that devastating storms like Katrina, Maria and Dorian might finally be getting the attention of the public. Or maybe not.
A growing number of people believe we have passed so many tipping points that we won’t be able to stop the incineration of the Mother Earth. Whether we are past the point of no return or not doesn’t matter much at this point. The only moral thing we can do now is work to decrease greenhouse gas emissions as rapidly as we can, to at least slow down the environmental chaos we are experiencing and our children will be living through.
It has been difficult for me to continue, for some forty years, to ask people to change their lives to drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. It is difficult not to feel like a failure, to wonder what I could have done differently. There are several reasons why I don’t feel I have completely failed. (i.e. there have certainly been failures on my part).
I have diligently worked to hear what the Spirit has asked me to do. One of the reasons I treasure Quaker meetings for worship is how the hour of quiet creates the space to be able to hear the still small voice that will tell me what is being asked of me. Doing this in the presence of other spiritual seeker is important. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s like an enhanced Spiritual awareness sometimes occurs. Sometimes, because that doesn’t always happen. It may be a long time before you receive spiritual guidance. This requires patience.
I have been blessed to spend time with, and make friends with some Native people. I continue to be so impressed by the spiritual foundations of their communities and their lives. My own spiritual practices and knowledge have been greatly expanded.
Another reason I don’t feel I have completely failed relates to what failure is. I would sometimes feel I failed because I hadn’t seemed influenced people to give up their personal automobile. The problem with that is seeing others give up their cars is what I thought success would look like. My Quaker community taught me I should discern the will of the Spirit and then obey that. Even when, or especially when, that isn’t what I had in mind.
You gotta put down the weight, gotta get out of your way. Get out of your way and just look around the corner at your real self and look at all the potential that this beautiful Earth and love has to offer you.
Nahko Bear
My friend Joshua Taflinger, who I worked with on numerous #NoDAPL public witnesses and prayer gatherings in Indianapolis, has posed some key questions for us to answer. Just a few days ago I wrote about the use of questions as a spiritual practice. I see Joshua’s questions that same way.
If you are feeling helpless in the face of increasing environmental chaos, answering these questions might help you. And asking your friends and neighbors these questions might help them. Especially if we act on our answers.
So, not sure if you noticed, but the Amazon RAINforest has been on fire for the past 3 weeks! Translation: If we don’t do something about this out of control circus, our children are f…..d. The government isn’t going to do a thing to help us.. so quit waiting for that delusion to play out… It’s up to us. What are you willing to do for your children? Your grandchildren? How far will you go? What is your truth when it comes to the edge? Well it’s time to go to your edge, or else your children’s future is over! Let this be the wake up to take action. In your life. In your community. Now is all we have and our opportunity to make a difference is slipping by rapidly. Quit thinking about the change you want to see and just be it! Today! NOW! Later is no longer an option….
I think one of the biggest ” problems” in our world is that so many of us carry cumbersome burdens, traumas, fears, thoughts… and we don’t know what do with them… How to talk about/share them productively.. How to get through them to come out on the other side into our vision of personal freedom. How do we get free? And what is it we are really trying to get free from? Who are we truly freely wanting to be? What are we truly freely wanting to be Doing with our lives?
Joshua Taflinger
Whatever your spiritual practice is, I hope you will consider what your answers, and what your community’s answers, are to Joshua’s questions. I would be interested to hear answers you feel comfortable sharing. jakislin@outlook.com
SONY DSC
Heather Pearson
Ronnie,Tommy, Gibby, Tony, Tommy, unrecognized, Randy at VSM house
We feel a lot of adults haven’t quite understood that we young people won’t hold off the climate crisis ourselves. Sorry, if this is inconvenient for you. But this is not a single-generation job. It’s humanity’s job. We young people can contribute to a larger fight and that can make a huge difference.
So this is our invitation to you. Starting on Friday 20 September we will kick start a week of climate action with worldwide strikes for the climate. We’re asking you to step up alongside us. There are many different plans underway in different parts of the world for adults to join together and step up and out of your comfort zone for our climate. Let’s all join together; with our neighbours, co-workers, friends, family and go out on to the streets to make our voices heard and make this a turning point in our history.
This is about crossing lines – it’s about rebelling wherever one can rebel. It’s not about saying “Yeah, what the kids do is great, if I was young I would have totally joined in.“ Everyone can and must actually help. But to change everything, we need everyone. It is time for all of us to unleash mass resistance – we have shown that collective action does work. We need to escalate the pressure to make sure that change happens, and we must escalate together.
So this is our chance – join us for the climate strikes this September. People have risen up before to demand action and make change, if we do so in numbers we have a chance. If we care we must do more than say we do. We must act.
This won’t be the last day we need to take to the streets, but it will be a new beginning. We’re counting on you.
Four of the most socially-conscious companies around will shut down on September 20th, and are encouraging their employees to take part in the Global Climate Strike. Green Day Ben & Jerry’s, Lush Cosmetics, Patagonia, and Seventh Generation have all pledged support for the strike, which will take place as part of a week of action before the UN Climate Summit. The Global Climate Strike will see millions of people walk out of their jobs or school for the day and join protesters to march for climate justice and bring further attention to the need to combat climate change.
Many states are criminalizing acts of nonviolent civil disobedience, clearly violating First Amendment rights.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Earlier this summer, President Trump visited West Des Moines for a GOP fundraiser. Bold Iowa was there to expose the president’s climate denial to the donors who came to support him. Five of us — Todd Steichen, Kathy Byrnes, Miriam Kashia, Martin Monroe, and I — blocked an entrance to the facility’s parking lot. We then carried our banner toward the building and were arrested by West Des Moines police. We were charged with simple misdemeanor trespass.
We risked arrest because it’s important to capture the attention of politicians, the press, and the public. Our message is that climate change threatens our very survival, and a president who denies the problem — whose policies in fact greatly exacerbate the threat — must be called out and challenged.
We knew we had to do something creative. So we settled on holding a sign reading “Climate denier in the White House scare the S#*T outta you? IT DOES US!” To further bring home the urgency, we dressed in black and wore adult diapers.
“This was a difficult action to plan and implement, and yes, it was a little embarrassing, too, to wear a diaper in public,” said Kathy Byrnes, a grandmother of three who lived on the route of the Dakota Access Pipeline. “While we would have preferred to share our message with the President’s audience and not be arrested, our upcoming trial is an important opportunity to prove that non-violent action in defense of our very survival is justified.”
We go to trial Thursday, September 5 at 2:00 at the Polk County Justice Center, Courtroom #110, 222 5th Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50309. We’ll hold a press conference outside the building at 1:30. We’d be thrilled to have you and other supporters join us for both the press conference and the trial. The trial should wrap up by 4:30.
We grappled with what it means to be peacemakers in a violent society. U.S. politics have descended into deadlocked ideologies, neglecting real imperatives. Our country has expanded its military operations around the world and militarized its local police. State sanctioned violence has killed unarmed people. Denying basic needs for clean water and air, food, housing, education, safety and medical care is also violence.
The witness and commitment of the Water Protectors at Standing Rock inspire us, as does the support for them from Indigenous Peoples all over the world. Nahko Bear, a Native American activist and spiritual leader, told the gathering of youth who had been attacked by dogs the message he was given repeatedly as he traveled around the world: “remember that nonviolent direct action is the way to a successful revolution.” An Iowa Conservative Friend was arrested in nonviolent action protesting the Bakken pipeline in Iowa.
Stories collected by Don Laughlin remind us of the witness of Iowa Quakers who were imprisoned for refusing to participate in the military. We seek ways to share these stories with the wider community.
Members of our Committee were encouraged to study the new book calling for national nonviolent direct-action, The Gandhian Iceberg, by Chris Moore-Backman, who sent us the following message:
I pray that Quakers and others will move to hold bold action far above the careful crafting of right answers. In the end Jesus’ teaching is simple. Letting go of our attachments to our personal status quos is the catch. Intellectual rigor and discernment has its place, of course, but only – I believe – in service to direct, loving action and sacrifice.
We accept the admonition of the Rev. William Barber, who called for us to be the moral defibrillators of our time; to shock the nation with love and justice; to remember that Jesus was a brown skinned, Palestinian Jew; to return to the public square. We encourage Friends to provide witness with peace vigils in public squares and to speak out in print and social media and legislators’ offices.
In 2006 the Yearly Meeting approved the following Minute:
Basic to Quaker belief is the faith that the same Light we recognize in our own hearts illuminates the souls of all other people. This belief leads us to seek nonviolent means of resolving conflicts at all levels— interpersonally, within communities, among nations—and to work for justice as a basis for lasting peace. We find ourselves bound in many ways as citizens of the United States to policies of our government which are abhorrent to us and in violation of our most deeply held beliefs. Our efforts to encourage our government to establish policies that will lead to peace and justice here and around the world have not been adequate to bring about the change which is so urgently needed.
The destructive forces unleashed in our world threaten the future of all people and the planet itself. Throughout our history, Quakers have at various times found ourselves called to suffer for beliefs which have placed us in opposition to our government. Based on this history of courageous witness, we challenge Friends to now consider participating in nonviolent civil disobedience.
This call is even more urgent today. We encourage Friends to discern how they are called to bear witness for peace and justice and to support each other in doing so.
Peace and Social Concerns Committee Report, Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) 2017.
Below is an amazing video of Nahko Bear performing solo at the Water Protectors Youth Concert Sept 8, 2016. He says the resounding message he hears during his travels is:
Remember that nonviolent direct action is the way to a successful revolution. And that is a hard one, because they are so bad (chuckles). When they come at us you just want to hit ’em, you know? Just sit with that. I know it’s tough. They’re going to try to do everything they can to instigate you. But remember what we’re here for. We’re here to create peace for our Mother. We’re not here to create more violence.
When you’re feeling bad, when you’re feeling frustrated, put all your prayer into your palms, put them to the ground, put them back to the sky, honor the Father, the Mother, just know it will be alright.
Are you guys feeling proud, are you proud of yourselves? Because the whole world is watching. The whole world is watching. So whatcha gonna do? Gonna show love? Are you gonna be smart? You gonna think before you act? Take care of each other? You’re gonna show ‘em what family does. They don’t know what that’s like.
You gotta put down the weight, gotta get out of your way.
Get out of your way and just look around the corner at your real self and look at all the potential that this beautiful Earth and love has to offer you.
Watching the slow motion disaster of Hurricane Dorian, I am reminded of feeling similarly helpless as I watched Hurricane Katrina devastate New Orleans in 2005. Unfortunately Dorian seems to validate the assertion that we will see more powerful storms due to warmer waters, which are due to climate chaos. There may be a need to create a classification of Category 6 Hurricanes (currently the classification only goes to Category 5). Rising ocean levels will add to the devastation as future, even more powerful storms appear.
I don’t remember hearing about the massive evacuation of 36,000 people from Darwin, Australia, in 1974. Unfortunately this will become more common.
Increasingly after my speaking events, I catch myself unexpectedly weeping in my hotel room or on flights home. Every now and then, the reality of what the science is saying manages to thaw the emotionally frozen part of myself I need to maintain to do my job. In those moments, what surfaces is pure grief. It’s the only feeling that comes close to the pain I felt processing the severity of my dad’s brain injury. Being willing to acknowledge the arrival of the point of no return is an act of bravery.
This year the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society’s annual conference was held in Darwin, where the infamous Cyclone Tracy struck on Christmas Day in 1974, virtually demolishing the entire city. More than 70 per cent of the city’s buildings, including 80 per cent of its houses, were destroyed. Seventy-one people were killed and most of the 48,000 residents made homeless. Conditions were so dire that around 36,000 people were evacuated, many by military aircraft. It was a disaster of monumental proportions.
There is a very rational reason why Australian schoolkids are now taking to the streets – the immensity of what is at stake is truly staggering. Staying silent about this planetary emergency no longer feels like an option for me either. Given how disconnected policy is from scientific reality in this country, an urgent and pragmatic national conversation is now essential. Otherwise, living on a destabilised planet is the terrible truth that we will all face.
For some years now I’ve been talking and writing about the idea of an Overground Railroad. Similar to the Underground Railroad, an Overground Railroad could be a way to prepare for the mass migration of people from coastal areas to the middle of the country. Unfortunately as we saw this spring with the massive flooding of the Missouri River, the Midwest will also continue to experience climate chaos.
So, not sure if you noticed, but the Amazon RAINforest has been on fire for the past 3 weeks! Translation: If we don’t do something about this out of control circus, our children are f…..d. The government isn’t going to do a thing to help us.. so quit waiting for that delusion to play out… It’s up to us. What are you willing to do for your children? Your grandchildren? How far will you go? What is your truth when it comes to the edge? Well it’s time to go to your edge, or else your children’s future is over! Let this be the wake up to take action. In your life. In your community. Now is all we have and our opportunity to make a difference is slipping by rapidly. Quit thinking about the change you want to see and just be it! Today! NOW! Later is no longer an option….
To practice hope is to face hard truths, harder truths than you can face without the practice of hope. You can’t navigate dark places without a light, and hope is that light for humanity’s dark places.
Quinn Norton
Helplessly hoping her harlequin hovers nearby Awaiting a word Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit he runs Wishing he could fly Only to trip at the sound of goodbye
Wordlessly watching he waits by the window and wonders At the empty place inside Heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams he worries Did he hear a good-bye? Or even hello?
They are one person They are two alone They are three together They are for each other
Stand by the stairway you’ll see something certain to tell you Confusion has its cost Love isn’t lying it’s loose in a lady who lingers Saying she is lost And choking on hello
They are one person They are two alone They are three together They are for each other
I imagine any number of religious communities use questions to help guide spiritual reflection. Quakers use the term Query to refer to these questions. Different Quaker meetings create their own sets of queries. The following relates to the Advices and Queries of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative), but my example of answers are not official responses. Those who have been following my blog posts can see how my recent experiences related to Native spirituality are part of my response. We apply our recent experiences into our answers to the queries.
Commonly there are twelve sets of Advices and Queries. These are the topics for my yearly meeting.
MEETING FOR WORSHIP
OUTREACH
MEETING FOR BUSINESS
HARMONY WITHIN THE MEETING
MUTUAL CARE
EDUCATION
HOME AND FAMILY
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE
The Advices provide an introduction to the queries that follow. Time is usually set aside monthly for the whole meeting to discuss answers to that month’s set of queries. A response is written that combines what Friends have said during that discussion. Since there are a number of Friends who belong to the meeting, but live too far away to attended, several years ago we started the practice we call “long distance queries.” The Advice and Queries for the month’s consideration is emailed to distant members, who can and sometimes do email back their response to the queries. Those response are read at the meetinghouse and included in the discussion of the queries.
The following introduction to the Advices and Queries is from the Faith and Practice of Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative). https://www.iymc.org/faith-practice/
Introduction
Quakerism is a living faith made real through the inward light of the living Christ. This faith holds that our individual lives and the corporate life of the meeting can be guided by continuing revelation through the Holy Spirit.
When we behold the splendor of creation, we realize that knowledge of what is divine is beyond description. Traditionally, Friends have referred to the divine in such terms as God, the Inward Light, the Living Water, the Creator, the Christ Within, and the Spirit. Many believe that when we limit the divine to one gender we also limit ourselves and each other. Becoming aware of how we discern Spirit is important to our worship.
The Quaker faith is not written in the form of a creed, but is experienced in our lives as a vibrant, living truth. Advices and queries serve to engage our minds and hearts in a process which may provide openings to the leadings of the Spirit within us. These leadings may speak to our individual and corporate needs. The advices and queries reflect experiences from many lives as they contribute to the gathered wisdom of the group. They serve to guide us on our spiritual journeys by opening our hearts and minds to the possibility of new directions and insights.
Uses of Advices and Queries
We look for our own truths and the truths of our meeting when we discuss the advices; and answer the queries. It is suggested that one advice and one query be considered by the local meeting each month.
This month Bear Creek Friends Meeting will be discussing the following Advices and Queries, which are related to meeting for worship.
MEETING FOR WORSHIP
ADVICE
Meeting for Worship is the heart of the meeting. In the silence, we seek direct communion with God the Spirit, conscious of the seeking of others. From the depths of living silence may come an awareness of the presence of the Spirit.
Sometimes the silence is unbroken. At other times a message may come to any one of us which seems intended not simply for the worshiper, but for the gathering as a whole. If the message is not expressed one may feel a sense of not having been faithful to a leading of the Spirit, but if it is spoken, a sense of peace may follow. We are most effective if we speak clearly, simply and from our own experience. Because we are unique individuals who come from varied backgrounds and life experiences, our messages reflect diversity. Part of our worship together is listening with an open spirit, holding the speaker in love, remembering that silence after the message is part of the message.
Our daily lives are linked with Meeting for Worship. In the search for truth, Friends are encouraged to spend time in individual study, meditation or prayer and to be open to other sources of inspiration around us. The life of the meeting may be strengthened by a deep level of sharing, discussion or worship at times other than regularly scheduled meetings.
Friends should make an effort to arrive a Meeting for Worship prepared in mind and spirit to support one another in a worshipful atmosphere. As we give and receive, in speech or in silence, we are drawn together in the life of the Spirit.
QUERY • Are our Meetings for Worship held in a spirit of expectant waiting and communion with the Holy Spirit? How do we prepare our hearts and minds for worship? • How do we refer to that which is divine? How does ascribing gender to the Holy Spirit affect our worship? • How does the vocal ministry of the meeting contribute to its spiritual life? In what ways do we recognize and nurture vocal ministry and other spiritual gifts?
Following is my own response to these queries. When we meet at Bear Creek this morning, everyone’s responses will be combined into the meeting’s response to this set of queries. Following is just my response as an illustration and NOT anything that has been approved.
My spiritual experience has expanded greatly as I learn more about indigenous peoples spirituality. One of my main reasons for participating on the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March was to learn more about native spirituality and share about my own. I had some difficulty with this, being aware of Quaker’s participation in forced assimilation in the boarding schools. I felt I made progress with this after I was able to share stories related to this during the March with my friend Matthew Lone Bear. I have begun to learn about and pay attention to the presence of the Spirit in all things-animate and inanimate. My nearly daily walks are much more interesting as I pay attention to the trees, sky, squirrels, rabbits and hawks (3 of which routinely fly above me). I recently wrote a blog post about my tree friend. https://kislingjeff.wordpress.com/2019/08/26/my-tree-friend/ I think the query about gender and the Holy Spirit is interesting in these days of us being more aware of non-binary gender definitions and the use of pronouns. Sometimes my spiritual life feels like it is a rut. I think we need to go deep into our spiritual selves, because I think we are being called to be among those who lead as we rapidly move deeper into environmental collapse. We will have to find answers from God, because we don’t have many right now. I would like us to begin to share our spiritual journeys with each other. In Indianapolis such a sharing was done by a given person speaking of their spiritual journey during pre-meeting.
Individual and NOT approved response from Jeff Kisling
Quakers, social justice and revolution 