As Way Opens
This past Sunday, Clerk Dan Rains shared a lovely reading with us as we centered down into Meeting for Worship. He had received it from Cindy K. The reading is used to begin each school day in her daughter’s third-grade class at IPS #91, Rousseau McClellan, which is a Montessori-based school in IPS.
I offer you peace,
I offer you love,
I offer you friendship,
I hear your cry,
I see your beauty,
I feel your pain.
This caring flows from my spirit within.
I salute that spirit in you.
Let us work together for peace.
Maria Montessori said “A child is an eager observer and is particularly attracted by the actions of the adults and wants to imitate them. In this regard an adult can have a kind of mission. He can be an inspiration for the child’s actions, a kind of open book wherein a child can learn how to direct his own movements. But an adult, if he is to afford proper guidance, must always be calm and act slowly so that the child who is watching him can clearly see his actions in all their particulars.”
In this way, you are your child's Ambassador of Peace. You must teach your child through example (using both purposeful lessons and everyday interactions) how to create Peace in your life. Conflict resolution skills are important. If a child makes a mistake, do not get angry. Instead, role play or have a conversation about how the conflict could have been resolved peacefully to plan ahead for next time. Use the exact words in your modeling that you wish your child to use.
Adults need modeling of peaceful resolution to conflict, as well. How do we move through the world as Ambassadors of Peace to all those around us – both children and adults? How do we help others recognize the spirit – that of God – within each person? What can we, do we, offer to others, chiefly in times of stress, struggle, disagreement? Let us be bold enough to offer our own understanding and experience of God’s care and nurture when faced with the challenge of helping to bring peace. Let us live up to the Light we have been given, and trust the promise that more will be granted. The world needs the Light we carry. How can we not offer it?
Ruthie
Announcements, Reports, & Opportunities
Bowling Party! Please join us for a bowling party hosted by the Christian Education Committee. It will be THIS COMING Sunday, February 26, 12-2pm at Woodland Bowl, 3421 E 96th St. There is no cost, and pizza and drinks are included! Please RSVP with Beth know if you are interested in attending.
The Pastoral Search Committee invites you to contemplate and provide feedback on the following query this week: In your opinion, how can our new pastor best provide administrative leadership to the meeting? Please provide your thoughts on the query (or any other feedback on the search process) to a pastoral search committee member, who will be looking forward to hearing from you just outside the Meeting Room after Meeting for Worship this Sunday, February 26th!
First Friends Game Night:
Saturday, February 25 at 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM At the Meetinghouse
Informal gathering for board games, card games, etc.
Bring a game along.
There will be snacks!
We will need volunteers to bring snacks.
First to choose to bring snacks and/or drinks will be chosen!
We will kick off with the ISH group!
For further information contact the office.
Open House Invitation ~ The Indianapolis Muslim Community Association (IMCA), located at the Al-Fajr Mosque just outside of downtown Indianapolis is hosting a community open house for the general Indianapolis community to come meet Muslims, and learn about Islam, Muslims, and Muslim culture. This is an opportunity for our Muslim community to host our brothers and sisters of other faith traditions or beliefs and for all of us to learn from each other. The open house will be held Saturday, February 25th from 1pm - 3pm at the Mosque located near downtown—4846 Cold Spring Rd. RSVP is required for this event—please visit this link to RSVP: https://goo.gl/rTioR5
Oak Leaf: Meeting for Reading: Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance will be held next Tuesday (February 28th) at 7 pm in the Parlor at FFM. Cindy K will be heading up the discussion. Feel free to join us on Facebook, we have added a new Oak Leaf Page for posting comments, reviews and discussion. If you'd like to read ahead for next month: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving will be discussed on March 28th, led by Pat P.
In 2017, World Day of Prayer is celebrated on Friday, March 3rd. World Day of Prayer (WDP) is an international event that unites Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian women and men in over 170 countries in prayer. With origins in the 19th century, World Day of Prayer became an official call to prayer under its present name in 1927. In its present iteration, World Day of Prayer is celebrated on the first Friday of March around the world. Throughout the day, from the first sunrise to the last sunset, our prayers follow the sun’s path around the globe. Spoken in hundreds of languages and dialects, WDP strives to bring “informed prayer and prayerful action” to our communities. The host country for 2017—providing the theme, worship materials, and a focus for prayer—is the Philippines. You are invited to celebrate this day in Indianapolis at Northview Church of the Brethren at 10:00 am, 5555 46th St.
Opportunity to Volunteer ~ On Sunday, March 5 from 1-3 p.m., we would welcome volunteers from First Friends to help sort donated shoes at the Changing Footprints shoe room. We are located at 9302 N. Meridian St., Suite 382. We are on the northwest corner of 93rd St. & N. Meridian St. at the stoplight. Park behind the building and enter the main door. Take the elevator to the third floor. Please contact the office if you are available and interested! If you arrive after 1 p.m., please call Carol’s cell phone so she can open the locked entrance door for you.
The Indiana Daylily and Iris Society invites you! The IDIS is now hosting their monthly meetings at First Friends, and everyone is welcome! Their first meeting of the year will be Tuesday, March 7 at 6:30. There will be two presentations entitled "Effective Methods for Controlling Moles" and "Median Iris Rule Supreme in 2017", showing pictures of some regional iris gardens and giving a preview of the Median Iris Society Mini-Convention coming up in May. Please join us in the Parlor!
Day of Remembrance ~ Sunday, March 12th As we prepare for Easter and the Celebration of Christ’s resurrection, it has become our custom to remember those persons from First Friends family who have passed away in the last year. We trust that they continue to live now in God’s presence, even after death. Circle of Care has created a large banner that will hang in Fellowship Hall, onto which everyone of us is invited to post a photo or two of loved ones who have died. Please add a note of explanation to your photos: sign your name, write who the photo is of, and why you choose this photo? The banner will remain up for several weeks, and on Sunday, March 12th we will gather together in Worship and recall these cherished ones. After worship, please join us for Fellowship Hour hosted by Circle of Care.
Every three years, the global community of Friends United Meeting gathers to celebrate our life together, to grow in our ability to serve the world, and to worship Christ our Lord! Along with our Triennial host, Great Plains Yearly Meeting, FUM invites and welcomes Quakers from all over the world to join us in Wichita, Kansas, on July 12–16, 2017. We will meet on the campus of Friends University, and look forward to seeing you there. Messages will spring from Thomas Kelly’s book, “The Eternal Promise.” Registration? https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1877598
Zionsville Poetry Contest! All residents of Indiana are invited to submit poems for a public art project. The winning poems will be stamped into a Village sidewalk in Zionsville. Entries are $10 for adults and $5 for youth; they must be no longer than 8 lines and are due by March 30. Submit poems to Zionsville Cultural District, 225 W. Hawthorne St., Zionsville, IN 46077 or online at www.zionsvilleculturaldistrict.org. For more information, see the press release here: http://www.zionsville-in.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=99