HAMILTON MONTHLY MEETING
There is a way between voice and presence
where information flows.
In disciplined silence it opens.
With wandering talk it closes.
Rumi
DATES TO REMEMBER
*Thursday, March 21: Potluck on Faith and Practice Working Draft, 6:30 p.m.
*Thursday, April 4: Meeting for Worship for Business, 7:00 p.m.
*Sunday, April 7: First Day School Outing to historic Quaker Rockwood
School museum, depart Meeting House at 11:00 a.m. for carpooling
*Sunday, April 7: QuakerLite, 1:00 p.m.
*Thursday, April 11: Deadline for newsletter submissions
*Friday, April 26: Potluck (topic to be determined)
*(Tentatively) Saturday, May 11: Garden Open House
Anyone can post items of interest to our community on the calendar at: http://www.communityzero.com/hquakers. If you want to post to the public site, send your post to
COFFEE LIST
March 24 Mona Callin
March 31 Ray Cunnington
April 7 Ian Graham
April 14 Grace Inglis
April 21 Darlene James
April 28 Jean Johnson
MEMORIAL MINUTE FOR JOSS RUTTY
(Submitted by Helen Brink)
JOCELYN GRIERSON RUTTY
9 May 1909 19 December 2001
Joss Rutty was born near Brantford, the youngest of a family of five. He was born into the Church of England where he acquired his lifelong love of music. In 1936 he married Mary Van Sickle and settled in Hamilton where their two children, Michael and Donna, were born.
Joss had a varied working life, beginning as an employee of Canada Post where he initiated the establishment of a credit union. From there he went as a salesman to pharmaceutical firms, but later, while living in London, Ontario, he resumed his education, graduating in Business from Fanshawe College. This was followed by a period of teaching Mathematics at Fanshawe
prior to retirement.
About 1960, while still living in Hamilton, Joss had made contact with the little group of Friends meeting in this city, for a time acting as its treasurer, and he continued that contact through the worship group meeting in London. On his retirement, he and Mary returned to Hamilton where he resumed an active part in Hamilton Monthly Meeting.
Besides his eclectic taste in music and his enjoyment in making music, Joss was an enthusiastic maker of objects and took particular pleasure in working with the various media of the visual arts.
Joss was a tall and stately man of keen intellect and strong opinions, a force to be reckoned with even in the last three years of his life when he and Mary were both living in a nursing home. Joss died at the age of 92 on December 19, 2001.
REMINDER FROM THE GARDEN COMMITTEE
(Submitted by Jean Johnson)
Join us for the first planning meeting for the garden/garage sale/open house on Friday, March 22nd, at the Meeting House, from 12:00 2:00 p.m. Bring your lunch!
The BIG event is tentatively set for Mother's Day Weekend, Saturday, May 11th. Please be thinking about what items you would like to contribute to the sale.
SPIRITUAL RETREAT REFLECTIONS
(Submitted by Dave King)
Jan and I very much enjoyed participating in the Spiritual Retreat that was held at the Meeting House on February 23 and 24. It is always good to set some time aside for quiet reflection and sharing with others.
Friday night was mostly spent in silence to make a transition from the busyness of the week with a social gathering at the end to get to know the other retreatants. Saturday was divided into three periods, which provided opportunities for some fun, dancing, singing, chanting, playacting and
sketching. It is amazing what you can do in a creative environment. Rex Barger and I tried some tricky handclapping, which was fun, and I even wrote an "Unfinished Symphony" about my life, set to words rather than music unfortunately.
There were 11 or 12 people who participated in the retreat and a small group like that gives one an opportunity to chat with everyone, which I greatly appreciated as it gave me a chance to get to know some people that had only been a name and a face before.
I would like to thank the leaders of the sessions, Rick, Rex, Robbie and Bev, for their guidance and Darlene for providing excellent food for supper.
I hope that there will another retreat in the future. You can certainly count me in.
AND FROM ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS....
(Submitted by Rex Barger)
I decided to run my Spring segment like a Meeting for Worship for Play. I asked all the participants to sit in silence until moved to initiate or request a song or a game or a poem or a dance. But I found it more difficult than I had anticipated to do so myself. I had no regrets,
however. The morning was splendid! I'd like for us to try another such Meeting for Worship for Play after one of our potlucks or even as a "standalone" evening.
ORAL HISTORY AND HMM
(Submitted by Rick McCutcheon)
During a recent Ministry and Counsel meeting the conversation was about writing a memorial minute for a recently deceased member. Helen Brink began to tell us stories about years ago when the Meeting was young and various Friends were very active. After she finished, Sian Baker and I looked at each other with very similar thoughts it turns out. How unfortunate it would be for us to lose all these stories to the mere passing of time. The task of collecting oral histories is not easy, but could be so important to the meeting's future vitality.
Collecting stories for the purposes of oral history is somewhat more than sitting down for a conversation with a Friend who has been around a while. It can mean using a tape recorder to capture faithfully the wordings used by Friends as they describe events. It can mean pursuing leads to get dates of events correct. But for those who love this kind of work, I am told that it is also very much a deeply rewarding relationship with time and people who have helped to shape who we now are and who we are becoming.
Although those of us on Ministry and Counsel are not in a position right now to take up such a task, we wanted to share the idea with Friends and Attenders who may wish to pursue it. If you find the idea interesting, but not something for which you have the skills, there are several people in the Meeting who could help guide you in developing skills, and identifying individuals to interview.
THOUGHTS TRIGGERED BY READING THE CANADIAN FAITH & PRACTICE DRAFT
(Submitted by Rex Barger)
When I hear the phrase 'that of God', I feel a need for clarification. I believe that much religious jargon tends to split the unity we are called to create. If we're genuinely serious about working toward that unity, shouldn't we strive for more usefully understood language in our documents?
Let's try to make them more easily understood by agnostics, atheists & people from other traditions.
The meaning behind the belief that 'there is that of God in every one' (for me) is that we all have access to the guidance that can come from the depth of understanding that our interrelatedness is unavoidable. Because everyone's wellbeing helps to maximize our own wellbeing, we really do
need each other, the world & all that dwells therein. We each get only a little glimpse of the 'big picture' of how beautifully all life can be harmoniously interrelated, but if we take our unaskedfor responsibility for the wellbeing of all life seriously, we will invite & welcome mutual mentoring from all our friends (even the ones we haven't met yet).
It is often difficult for us to put our little glimpses of the 'big picture' into wellunderstood words. (Sometimes it's easier to express them in actions, which we certainly should do, whether or not we try to use words.) 'Speaking from the silence' & speaking (or writing) from the depths
of our hearts are practices that help us to clarify our little glimpses. I've found that they help me to get a better grasp on what my heart tries to tell me, but it also turns my insights out so they can be refined with the help of others (mutual mentoring).
In addition, I feel a need for further clarification of what is (variously) meant by the oft used (but rarely explained) Quakerism, 'with our hearts & minds prepared'. The way it is often used, it seems (to me) to imply that it is something special that we should do just prior to Meeting for
Worshipsomething we don't usually do in our daily lives. But, if we are truly committed to fulfilling our share of our responsibility for the wellbeing of all life, that commitment (plus a little time to refocus) should be sufficient 'preparation for our hearts & minds'. I find that
quietly letting my insides settle helps me to return to my focus on what I (we) should be doing to enhance & respond to the needs of our globalocal community health & what I (we) should be avoiding that may damage it.
Nor do I fully understand the oft used caution to avoid preprepared material in Meeting for Worship. In my experience, some of my most precious insights come to me (unbidden) in the middle of the night or when I'm walking in the woods or while reading a book. If, during a Meeting for Worship, they still seem appropriate to be shared, should I squelch them
just because they were born prematurely?
In addition, I'm concerned that too much emphasis on making sure that our ministry is 'worthy' may tend to discourage worthy people from taking a chance on sharing their worthy thoughts. There is no way for any of us to tell whether or not what we consider to be worthy will be considered so by others, so I say "Don't worry about what others may think. If you consider
it worthy, the rest of us should respect your personal judgment & listen deeply to each & every sharing during Worship." The most important ingredient for a powerful experience (either of worship or of business) is the way we treat each other with deep respect!
Then there is the question of how much silence is truly needed to facilitate the possibility of our experiencing a gathered meeting. Absolute silence is of course impossible. So where do we draw the line? Or do we really need to? To be truly friendly friends, let's try to remember that even our expectation for silence needs to be somewhat flexible! A thought from Jane Stokes in a recent Canadian Friend: "children & youth respond from within their family's background, but also from their own perspective", triggered this thought in me. Because we tend to get 'weighed
down' by traditions, we can benefit greatly by staying open to the fresh perspectives of all newcomersespecially our own children!
LOCALLY GROWN ORGANIC PRODUCE AVAILABLE
(Submitted by Ian Graham)
Simpler Thymes Organic Farm is a Community Shared Agriculture project located north of Hamilton on Hwy 6. Rex Barger lives there with the Lanigan family. Friends are invited to buy units of produce for the coming season. 16 and 20 week shares, half and full. Cost is $225 for half unit 16 weeks $450 for full 16 week, $275 for half 20 week, $550 for full 20 week. This buys enough vegetables for a family of four (adults) each week. A share is ten items, depending on what is in season. Best I can estimate this is about 50% more than the supermarket cost of the same quantity but without the organic quality and support of biodiversity. See http://www.communityzero.com/hquakers for details or contact Ann Lanigan,
905 659 1576. Cheques can be given to Rex or Ian or mailed in. We are trying to arrange the Meetinghouse as a drop point.
ARCHIVES COMMITTEE INAUGURAL MEETING MINUTES, FEBRUARY 24, 2002
(Submitted by Robbie Shepard)
Present: Mona Callin (convenor), Robbie McGregor, Robbie Shepard
1. As this is the first meeting of the Archives Committee, we welcomed each other.
2. Robbie Shepard explained what he had been doing as Archivist over the past several years, and demonstrated on his computer how opticallyscanned documents can be retrieved and displayed e.g., from CDROMs.
3. We discussed the kinds of materials that should be included in HMM archives, such as:
a. Meeting for Worship for Business minutes with all the attachments (e.g., reports and correspondence)
b. Newsletters
c. Flyers and announcements of significant gatherings being held in our Meeting House, including Young Friends' retreats
d. Membership records:
i. Births, marriages and deaths
ii. Memorial minutes
iii. Living wills (in closed envelopes)
e. Oral histories and the thumbnail biographies included in Newsletters
about ten years ago
f. Photos with names of persons, dates, occasions
g. Annual reports of all Committees
h. HMM contributions to Half Yearly Meetings
i. Outlines of
i. Quakerism 101
ii. Quaker Lite
iii. Discussion groups, workshops, retreats
4. We briefly discussed the difficulty of ascertaining which, among a
number of electronic versions of a document, is the "authoritative" one.
5. Tasks to do:
a. Newsletters; flyers sent out; announcements & bulletin board; minutes;
storage; State of Society reports Mona
b. Library materials Robbie Mc.
c. Nominating Committee reports, lists of officers Robbie S.
d. Architectural archives Tony Butler Mona
e. Fire maps of the Meeting House Robbie Mc.
f. Overview of present holdings, gaps Robbie S.
g. Adding to oral histories Robbie Mc.
h. Scanning of photos in albums ??
i. Stockpiling materials on CDROM Robbie S.
j. Young Friends' activities Chris Yang? Robbie Mc.
k. Developing a management policy all three
The Archives Committee invites all HMM members and attenders to comment on the foregoing, and to suggest improvements. Also, we know that some people have their own personal "archives" of HMM materials, and we would welcome the opportunity to copy such material, in order to fill the gaps in our collective holdings. Please let us know what potential archives you may have languishing in your basements and/or notebook computers!
QUAKERISM 101
(Submitted by Ian Graham)
Thirteen seekers are engaged in a 'romp' through Quaker history, early theology and more. Sessions so far have dealt with the early Friends history, the Light Within, and Quaker Universalism. We will be moving on to Worship and Ministry, Quaker Witness, and Business Methods. In the last session, we will do a simulated Meeting for Business on the 1969
controversy on use of the Wade Meetinghouse for witnessing to racial justice.
Questions like 'Where are you on your spiritual journey?', 'What does the "Inner Light" mean to you?', 'when do I know to speak in Meeting? ' Are there things a person can do to help bring about a "gathered" Meeting?', How is 'sense of the meeting' different than consensus?' and many more are being explored.
Discussion and some background can be found at http://www.commmunityzero.com/hquakers. Participants include: Cathy Brown,Tony Campbell, Pete Cross, Richard DouglassChin, Julie Fleming, Betty Flynn, Ian Graham, Dawn Lepard, Robin Lucy, Janis Muller, Shirley Schellenberg, Megan Walchuk, Susan Wortman. Talk to us about it!
FRIENDS GENERAL CONFERENCE GATHERING INFORMATION
(Submitted by Liz Perch)
Friends General Conference will hold the 2002 Gathering of Friends at Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, June 29July 6, 2002. The theme is "To Be Gathered Still."
"Our theme recognizes the 350th anniversary of George Fox's vision from Pendle Hill of a great people to be gathered," explains Gathering Committee coclerk Paul Buckley, member of 57th Street Meeting in Chicago.
"Now, more than ever, we see that there are still so many who long to experience the Divine embrace," adds Peggy Spohr of Richmond, Indiana, who is also coclerking the Gathering Committee.
The Gathering Community will be gathered in worship, from the opening meeting on Sunday morning through a closing meeting on Saturday, July 6. On Thursday evening, July 4, attenders will have an opportunity to experience some of the many forms worship can take as they participate in AllGathering worship facilitated by Junior Gathering. A daily Bible halfhour, FLGC worship and the Silent Center will also be available.
John Punshon, noted British Friend, will offer reflections on the theme of the Gathering on Sunday evening, June 30. He will also offer a series of less formal afternoon sessions with interested Friends, reflecting on the nature and consequences of the traditional Quaker testimonies.
Monday evening, July 1, Quaker author Walter Wink will speak on "Nonviolence for the Violent." Friday evening will feature Mary Rose O'Reilley, author of The Barn at the End of the World.
Wednesday evening's traditional intergenerational music event will this year highlight talented Friends from our Gathering community in a "Quilt of Quaker Musicians." Susan Stark will emcee the program, and promises a variety of performers, each adding color to the quilt.
Junior Gathering Young Friends will explore in the midst of worship, games, arts, music and much more. Theme groups for children entering grades 1 to 7 will offer an alternative to age based programming.
High Schoolers may expect to experience a loving spiritual community composed of friendship and zany antics. Adult Young Friends is a community that provides an intimate space within the Gathering for post high school age Friends to live and have fun together while exploring their
spirituality and roles as adult Quakers.
Music making and singing will abound. Yoga, contra dancing, folk dancing, and other movement opportunities will occur throughout the Gathering. Friends creativity will be displayed, performed and celebrated again this year in the Lemonade Art Gallery. The Gathering Store will offer a unique collection of books, First Day School Materials, tapes, Gathering and FGC merchandise, and handcrafted consignment items.
Normal is located in the heart of one of the richest agricultural areas in the United States. In the center of the Illinois prairie, Normal is easily reached by interstate. Several airlines serve BloomingtonNormal's airport, 15 minutes from the ISU. The Amtrak station is only two blocks from the campus.
Friends General Conference has financial support for Gathering attenders. Scholarships and workgrants are available to help make Gathering affordable. First time attenders scholarships match grants from monthly and yearly meetings. General scholarships assist families and individuals with the expenses of room/board and registration. Workgrant opportunities
include staffing the Junior Gathering program, assisting at the information desk, helping with routine tasks or taking on a specialized assignment. Additional information is available from Liz Perch, Conference Coordinator, at the address below. Friends are urged not to let cost issues keep them from considering attendance.
Detailed information about the Gathering will be available in the Advance Program. The Advance Program is mailed to all Friends on Yearly Meeting mailing lists in March and should arrive by 1 April 2002. You may also request an Advance Program by contacting Friends General Conference at 1216 Arch Street, 2B, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 5611700 or email
(gathering@fgcquaker.org).
More information about the Gathering and FGC is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.fgcquaker.org/gathering/. Access to the World Wide Web is often available at your local library.
The Gathering of Friends is a program of Friends General Conference, which provides resources to help members and attenders of constituent meetings discover how God's Spirit is leading us individually and corporately and to follow that leading.
ON LEISURE
(Submitted by Rick McCutcheon)
To prepare our minds and hearts and bodies for the Spiritual Retreat held on February 2223 we read this passage from Quaker Faith and Practice (Paragraph 21.22), written by Caroline C. Graveson in 1937. It seems to apply as well today as it likely did then. Several participants in the retreat asked that it be put in the newsletter to receive a wider audience.
There is, it sometimes seems, an excess of religious and social business these days, a round of committees and conferences and journeyings, of which the cost in "peaceable wisdom" is not sufficiently counted. Sometimes we appear overmuch to count as merit our participation in these things... At least we ought to make sure that we sacrifice our leisure for something
worthy. True leisureliness is a beautiful thing and may not lightly be given away. Indeed, it is one of the outstanding and most wonderful features of the life of Christ that, with all his work in preaching and healing and planning for the kingdom, he leaves behind this sense of leisure, of time in which to pray and meditate, to stand and stare at the cornfields and fishing boats, and to listen to the confidences of neighbours and passersby...
Most of us need from time to time the experience of something spacious or spacemaking, when Time ceases to be the enemy, goadinhand, and becomes our friend. To read good literature, gaze on natural beauty, to follow cultivated pursuits until our spirits are refreshed and expanded, will not unfit us for the up and doing of life, whether of personal or church affairs. Rather will it help us to separate the essential from the unessential, to know where we are really needed and get a sense of proportion. We shall find ourselves giving the effect of leisure even in the midst of a full and busy life. People do not pour their joys or sorrows into the ears of those with an eye on the clock.
QUERIES ABOUT MEMBER REGISTRY
(Submitted by Ian Graham)
How should Yearly Meeting assist Quakers in Canada to keep our records? This has been a witness to truth since Margaret Fell's time in the 1650s. Accurate records and care for our membership was particularly important when large numbers of Quakers were in jail or being harrised (sic.) by the state.
In modern times many meetings must wrestle with things like:
*when to remove inactive members
*how to interpret O&P on temporary memberships for children
*how to decide when a member is active or inactive
*how to keep accurate records of family units
*how to reduce the work of assembling the statistics
*how to keep their own membership registry uptodate
*how to record an inactive attender: someone who initially showed interest but has faded away, or someone who is in the inquirer stage
*what physical system should be used to keep track of members and
attenders, i.e., a logbook or a computer or something else
*what information do you ask for from a member/attender
If you have a view to share on this, please contact
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY AT MCMASTER
(Submitted by Harriet Woodside)
The Outreach Committee is working to improve our visibility at McMaster University. One way that you can help with this is to volunteer at the Exam DropIn Centre which is run by the McMaster Chaplaincy Centre. Some of us did this at the end of the fall semester. It's actually quite similar to being "on coffee duty" after Meeting for Worship ONLY the coffee and refreshments are provided!
Volunteers are needed to monitor the Exam DropIn Centre from 6:30 to 8:30 pm or 8:30 to 10:30pm, each evening from April 11 through April 28 (excluding Saturdays). It is located at Thode Library (the engineering library). Beverages and cookies are supplied. For more information or to schedule a time when you can volunteer, please call Donna White at
9055259140, ext. 24207.
I've helped out and would be happy to answer your questions.
NOTES ON OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
(Submitted by Ian Graham)
The committee met recently to take stock of the past year's initiatives and look forward to the future. We are continuing the three foci of our last report to the Meeting: campus presence, visible support of public events and new attenders programs. We feel the 'watchwords' Visibility,
Accessibility, Helpfulness and Hospitality express what we are trying to do.
The 2001 McMaster Clubsfest day for returning and new students was a success for the visibility theme. Next fall's event needs a convenor; please talk to Harriet, Ian or Dave.
Art Gallery Sacred Sites of Hamilton Walking tours. This is a new initiative of the AGH to encourage Hamiltonians to learn more about their city. HMM accepted the invitation to participate in the tours. Tentative dates are Sunday July 21 and Sept 1st. There will be activities at the Meetinghouse, including Taize chanting, tours, and of course, worship. Outreach is convening these events, and welcomes volunteers to help.
Outreach could be described as a) allowing one's life as a Quaker to speak; b) making the information about our faith and practice available; c) having a visible legacy.
Outreach is a wonderful way to participate in the life of your faith community. Please speak to us if you are interested in knowing more and getting involved.
A POEM: WHAT HAS PEACE RESEARCH DONE?
(Submitted by Hanna Newcombe)
Nibbling at it, bit by bit:
defuse conflict, practice GRIT,
make your defense inoffensive,
common efforts more intensive;
superord'nate goals pursue
to make world order truly new;
deconstruct the enemy image
to avoid a fatal scrimmage.
In defense, our priority
must be common security.
To be truly sustainable,
development must enable
future people to have crops;
fix it so CO2 drops;
do put limits on emission
warming cured or in remission.
Observe with care all human rights;
eradicate our common blights,
such as torture and death squads,
forced confessions, cattle prods.
Improve and strengthen United Nations,
abolish its aberrations;
don't let it of wars approve
in order tyrants to remove;
send them 'stead to Criminal Court,
by law cut their careers short.
Teach the children toys to share,
adults all the harm repair
that was done by weapons horrid,
or we'll all be sorry for it.
Smarten up, preserve the human;
use your wits and keen acumen.
Don't shed tears, but fight like hell
to make this world sound and well.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Remember that submissions for next month's newsletter can be emailed to me at:
The deadline for next month's newsletter submissions is April 11th, one week after the Meeting for Worship for Business.
peace and blessings,
Tamara
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