3-29-26 - The Journey from Palm Sunday to Good Friday - Beth Henricks

The Journey from Palm Sunday to Good Friday

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Beth Henricks

March 29, 2026

Scripture – John 2:23-25  “When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing.  But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.”

Luke 19:35-40  “Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.  As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.  As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!  Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”  He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Palm Sunday, in the church calendar is a day of celebration, praise, thanksgiving, and  hosannas as we always read about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem (his first time into this important city during his ministry).  He rides into the city on a donkey, and the people are rejoicing and recognizing Jesus as a man from God who has performed many miracles including recently raising Lazarus from the dead.   

3 of the 4 gospels report that Jesus told the disciples to go ahead and bring him a donkey as his means of transportation as he enters the city.  Much has been written about the symbolism of this ride on a donkey and this symbolism would be familiar to  many of the Jewish people in the crowd as Zechariah wrote in the Old Testament chapter 9 verses 9-10 “ Rejoice greatly,  O daughter Zion!  Shout aloud , O daughter Jerusalem!  Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”   

We get a sense from the crowd that they are beginning to recognize that this might be the promised Messiah from God.  They remember when Solomon became their King and he was presented to them on the donkey of his father, David.  They are shouting hosanna (often translated as please save us), blessed be the king who comes in the Lord’s name, peace, and glory in the highest heaven.  This seems like the proper welcome and ceremony for a man such as Jesus.    Maybe this is Israel’s king that will save them from their oppressors, and they are filled with hope and promise.        

In the Gospel of John, we read that, Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead.  He looked up to God saying “Father, I thank you for having heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here so that they may believe that you sent me.” (John 11:41-43).  I am sure this helped to build the crowd that gathered outside Jerusalem.  The people came to see Jesus and Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. 

With Jesus joyful entrance into Jerusalem, we must ask the question of why the crowd would turn against him in the near future.  Were they just worshipping this man who performed miracles and were whipped into an idolatrous frenzy to see Jesus and Lazarus?  Were they really embracing the messages of Jesus that requires sacrifice and rejection of power or were they just taken with his star quality and wanted to see him in the flesh?  Jesus knew how weak we can be and how easily manipulated a crowd can become for both good and bad.    We have seen many examples of this in our history where people might not consider doing something on their own but will take part in unthinkable acts when brought together like a mob.

The Pharisees had been concerned about Jesus for some time and seeing this crowd had to raise their desire to do something about him.  John 12:19 reports the Pharisees said to each other,  “You see, you can do nothing.  Look; the world has gone after him.”   The temperature is rising, and more Pharisees are saying that they must do something about this situation. They see that they must turn this crowd around.

While there were Pharisees out to eliminate the threat of Jesus, the Gospel of John tells us many religious authorities did believe in him but these Pharisees did not confess it  for fear they would be put out of the synagogue.  They valued their power and status among this religious ruling class more than the glory that comes from God.   That is also part of the mob mentality.  We are too afraid to stand up against the majority, the folks in charge, the ones that tell us what to do because we don’t want to be set apart from our tribe. 

Oh goodness, is this not our human tendency.  It’s a difficult path to follow the path of Jesus.  And that is why I had us read John 2:23-25.   Jesus  would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, he knew what was in everyone.  Jesus knows us and while he may have appreciated the praise and honor showered upon him on Palm Sunday, Jesus knows our hearts,  he wasn’t going to believe in the adulation being given him on his ride into Jerusalem because he knows how difficult it will be for us to take up a cross and sacrifice ourselves.  We love the highs of miracles and the celebrity status of a charismatic leader but are we ready to sacrifice and take up our cross like Jesus will be doing?

Who is this Jesus?  Is he going to be the King of the Jewish state and break the bonds of the Roman Empire?  Or is Jesus showing a different way of sacrifice, love and acceptance of all versus power and violence?  Jesus denounces the Scribes and Pharisees  and he laments over what Jerusalem has become and foretells about the destruction of the Temple.   This potential Messiah is talking about the destruction of the Temple?  The Messiah is supposed to be the one to uphold the Temple and to be Israel’s leader.

So what is the crowd to do about this Jesus?  Walter Wangerin Jr states in his book about Jesus Reliving the Passion, “Always the threat of this man is manifested in those whom his presence excites.  Look how volatile the people are now!  Worse than that, he is questioning religious laws developed over the centuries, the very forms by which we order ourselves and know ourselves and name ourselves.  If order is lost, so am I….What then?  Why, then I must destroy before I am destroyed.  Self-preservation is a law of nature.  I will arrest this Jesus by stealth and kill him.  Because if I do nothing, I will be nothing.”

It is clear that the crowd started having second thoughts about this commitment to Jesus’s way.

The crowd heard  Jesus say “Now is the judgement of this world, now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”    The crowd said “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever.  How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up?  Who is this Son of man?

The group thinking of the mob is changing.  They want a Messiah that would become their King and bring justice and defeat to the Romans. They wanted judgement now and want their rulers (the Romans)  to be driven out.  But Jesus is talking about a later time when he would be lifted from the earth – how does that fit into their desire for a King in the here and now?

Jesus was  talking about a power that is not what the world idolizes as power.  As John Caputo, theologian and philosopher writes in his book Cross and Cosmos,   “Theology must get over its love of power in favor of the powerless power of love, weakening the strong metaphysics of omnipotence into the soft power of the coming Kingdom’s call.”   “God’s power is constituted by powerlessness and nonsovereignty, God’s eminence by being what is least and lowest among us.”  God is revealed in the defeat.  God chose  the weak to shame the strong, the foolish to shame the wise, the nothings and nobodies to confound the powers that be”.

Wow, if I am part of the crowd, the mob, this is not the vision I have of a Messiah.  I want a real leader that will change my life now, will deliver on promises made, will be strong, decisive and take action on my enemies.  How do I support someone that suggests that the way of God is to abandon the desire for power and to choose the weak, the nothings and nobodies and pursue a way that tells me to love my neighbors, my enemies, that values justice over my self interest and understands power in a very different way.    This is the hard way, the road less traveled, the way of the cross where we are willing to give up much for others.   

Jesus knows us and understands our nature of light and shadow.  Jesus has never been about the short term but always has the long term in mind.  He knew what was coming even during the adulation he was receiving on Palm Sunday.  And he was in for the long term. 

My prayer for us today is that we not become completely discouraged by the short term all around us but continue to listen to God’s voice and God’s call for each of us for the long term. The way of Jesus is hard but it leads to a life of meaning and fulfillment.

As we enter our time of waiting worship, which is our communion, I encourage you to quiet your heart and mind and listen to God’s voice. I am not sharing any queries today as you quietly enter this time of waiting worship and ask you to reflect on the still small voice within you.

3-22-26 - Reclaiming Honor and Respect

Reclaiming Honor and Respect 

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 22, 2026

Good morning and welcome to Light Reflections.  The scripture I have chosen to support my message for today is from Romans 12:10 from the New Revised Standard Version.

…love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.

Today’s catalyst for bringing back our joy is respect, but a quick look in our scriptures may have us finding a different word, honor.  So, this morning I am going to talk about both honor and respect. I believe they go hand in hand.

Before we get into honoring and respecting, let me take a moment to recap a bit on where we have been so far. The catalysts that I gleaned from the “Book of Joy,” which I found to bring back my joy in difficult times started with prayer or as we Quakers say, “Holding Others or Situations in the Light.”  We then looked at what it means to gather and how coming together brings joy. We also explored the foundations of community to do good to others, help others, and be extravagantly generous. And last week we talked about Servant Hospitality and learning to appreciate otherness.

That brings us to this week.

I want to begin by having you think about a time you were honored. When someone spoke of your value to the family, how significant you were to your business, or how important you were to the team. Maybe they thanked you for something you did for them. Do you have that in your mind?

·      How did it make you feel?

·      Did it inspire you to do more of the same?

·      Did it make the sacrifice worthwhile?

·      Did it give you confidence?

·      Was it uplifting to you on the inside?

That’s what honoring others does. Honoring others motivates, inspires, builds up, and energizes. Honoring others makes those who feel insignificant, feel significant. Those who feel forgotten, remembered. For those who want to quit, to rise up with new determination.

Honoring is the response the stranger from last week is longing for. 

That’s because honoring one another is no small thing. It’s bigger than we can ever imagine and the Divine Spirit can use it in our lives and in the lives of those around us to bring about a wonderful transformation on the inside. This is why the Divine Spirit tells us to honor and respect one another.

This is what I want you to see, today. I want you to leave, today, looking for someone to honor and lift up this week. I want to see Divine Spirit nudge you to change someone’s life through honoring and respecting them.

To help us understand this, let’s start with our scripture for this morning, Romans 12:10, which says, 

“Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”  

Scripture is very specific on how we honor others. 

First, honoring one another is to value one another.

Learning how to place value on people. This is where you see others as important. Significant in some way.

Jesus was teaching His disciples one day when He asked,

“What is the price of two sparrows – one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows” (Matt. 10:29-31).

You can’t put a price tag on how important ALL people are to God.

If we are going to receive others like Christ (as I said last week), we must place a high value on the people in our lives. We must see them as important because there is that of God in them. Even those who seem useless, a burden to society, and a pain in our sides.  

The first step in honoring people is to see them with value.

Listen carefully, honoring one another is to place value on someone with your words and actions. Jesus did this. He showed honor to Matthew a tax collector (who most people despised), he expressed honor to Nicodemus (even though at first he didn’t understand Jesus), and he even showed honor toward Judas (even though Jesus knew that Judas was about to betray him), and He showed honor toward Pilate as He spoke with him prior to His crucifixion. Jesus expressed honor toward both His friends and His enemies. We should do the same in how we treat them and speak to them.

Second, honoring one another involves humility.

One translation puts it this way, “Honor one another above yourself.”  This is where you act like a servant toward them (like we talked about last week). This is where you give them the place of honor, rather than you taking it. This is where you help them succeed and better themselves.

I remember one day when I was just about finished with my master’s degree, a beloved professor pulled me aside after class and asked if I would be willing to be a presenter at the Association of Christian Colleges and Universities Conference in Chicago.  He was wanting me to present in his place. I was so honored that he would ask me and that he trusted me to represent him at this conference.

My anxiety grew as the conference grew closer.  When I arrived at the conference, I found several of my other professors waiting in the hall to greet me and encourage me.  I was welcomed as an equal in that moment. One of them escorted me to the room where I was to give my talk and said many had signed up for my talk and it was going to be full. 

Again, my anxiety grew.  So, I set up and then waited for the participants to arrive.  The very first professor who arrived, if you can believe it, was actually one of my theology professors from undergrad. He did not recognize me, but I recognized him, immediately. I went up and re-introduced myself. He said, “Well, can you believe that a student of mine has now come back to teach me something new.”  The room filled to capacity and I gave my talk.  Many people thanked me as they left, and my professor came up and said, “Well done.”   

What my master’s degree professor did by asking me to fill in for him was honoring and it even led to more honoring, even some unexpected honoring. 

This aspect of honoring each other I believe is well said in Eugene Peterson’s Message version of Scripture where it reads, “Practice playing second fiddle.” Sometimes you have to pass the ball and let someone else take the shot.  Think about it for us at First Friends, when is it time for those of us who are older to pass the baton to the next generations of Quaker leaders?

Three, honoring one another involves respect.

This is where we get to the respect aspect I started with. In the Today’s English Version our scripture text reads, 

“Be eager to show respect for one another.” 

Honor and respect go together as I have already said. You cannot separate them. It’s the two sides of the same coin. To show respect for someone is to give them your special attention.

Respecting someone is to listen to them even if you disagree with them. Respecting someone is to not be rude toward them. We did a lot of this last week at Monthly Meeting for Business. 

1 Peter 2:17 simply says, “Respect everyone.” 

We should be the people who are the most honoring and respectful people to be around. Cutting others down, belittling people, and rude sarcasm should never be a part of who we are. 

Think about this when you look at the leaders of our country.  It is hard to respect people who lead by belittling people and use rude sarcasm, and by putting people down.  These are not the characteristics we should be seeing in our leaders (on either side). 

This does not mean we need to stoop that low ourselves.  As Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high.”  That should be the mantra among Friends as well.

Four, honoring one another involves enthusiasm.

In our scripture for today, it says, “Take delight in honoring each other.”

This is where the joy comes in. Taking delight in honoring one another means to be eager about this with the attitude of trying to outdo one another in honoring each other.

It sort of carries the idea of a healthy competition between each other when it comes to honoring one another.

Think about this for a moment.

What would our lives be like if we were driven, motivated, inspired, enjoyed, and enthusiastic about honoring the people in our lives?

• What would happen to a marriage if the partners genuinely were trying to outdo each other in honoring one another?

• What would it look like if siblings or relatives enjoyed honoring one another?

• What would it look like if employees were motivated to honor one another?

• What would it look like if politicians were motivated to honor each other?

• What would our Meeting look like if we were driven to give honor to one another?

The power of honoring one another has the potential of revolutionizing every relationship in our lives. Honor is a game changer. So, take delight in it, be eager to show honor to others.

Number five, honoring one another involves grace.

It also says in our scripture, Romans 12, “Take delight in honoring each other.”

The “each other” means each other. No exceptions. I’m honoring you. You are honoring me. We are honoring them and they are honoring us.

Remember, when we are talking about honoring others we are talking about treating people like they have value and that their life matters.

I said honoring one another involves grace. It involves grace in several ways.

• Honor involves grace because of people. People struggle with all kinds of things, and they also have weaknesses. But that does not disqualify them from being honored. Their life is still important. They are still valuable. And it takes grace to honor one another, especially people who make it hard to honor them by their choices and negative attitudes. Showing honor to others is an act of grace.

• Honor involves grace when it comes to the amount. You cannot show honor to someone enough. We are told to outdo each other in honor. There is no limit to you placing honor on others. The Divine Spirit  is saying go all out when it comes to honor. Don’t hold back. So go ahead and honor your spouse. Go ahead and honor your teacher. God ahead and honor your parents. Go ahead and honor your siblings. The Divine Spirit wants you to do this.

So, as we wrap this up and enter waiting worship this morning, let’s think about two things:

• Who do you need to honor? Is there someone in your life that the Spirit is nudging you to honor in some way? A spouse, a parent, a boss, or someone else? How does God want you to show honor to them? Speaking with more respect, a gift, a word of appreciation, or an act of kindness?

• Is there anyone you have dishonored by the way you spoke to them in front of others or even privately? Is there someone you have been cold toward, rude, and distant when in reality you should have shown honor to them? By speaking with respect toward them.

Let’s take this time to ponder those queries.

3-15-26 - Servant Hospitality

Servant Hospitality

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 15, 2026

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. The scripture I have chosen to support my message is form Luke 14:12-24 from the New Revised Standard Version.

 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then Jesus said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many.  At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’  But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’  Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’  Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’  So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’  And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’  Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled.  For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’”

It seems appropriate that the catalyst to bring back our joy that we are looking at this morning is serving and hospitality – or what I would like to label “Servant Hospitality.”  I believe this is what we see in the life and ministry of Jesus and is our calling as both individuals and as Quakers.  Servant Hospitality embraces each of our Quaker SPICES or Testimonies in its own unique way. 

Most people think servant hospitality has a lot to do with being welcoming, serving or assisting others, helping people feel welcomed, having a sense of belonging, or you could even say, allowing others to become full participants of whatever is happening.

It has also become about being at ease with people and sensing an amount of safety - yet that was not always the case in our Abrahamic religious history. Servant Hospitality looked a bit different in the ancient Near East than in America, today.

And this was mainly due to servant hospitality being offered to complete strangers.

Marjorie J. Thompson in her book “Soul Feast” (which I consider a primer for experiencing the Spiritual Life in a Christian context) says this about servant hospitality in ancient times,

“People who appeared from the unknown might bear gifts or might be enemies.  Because travel was a dangerous venture, codes of hospitality were strict. If a sworn enemy showed up at your doorsteps asking for food and shelter, you were bound to supply his request, along with protection and safe passage as long as he was on your land.  All sorts of people had to travel at times through “enemy territory” which meant the hospitality to strangers was a matter of mutual survival.  It was a kind of social covenant, an implied commitment to transcend human differences in order to meet common human needs.”

Wow, can you even imagine that in our world, today! I think it is time for us to reinstate this “social covenant” in our day and age. It makes me wonder how the early Abrahamic faiths would have viewed those heading to the US Borders, today, and our responses to them. Many outside our country sadly now see us as “the enemy or the United States as enemy territory.” Maybe people in ancient times were more like us than we know.

Thompson continues, she says:  

“[Servant] Hospitality was a hallmark of virtue for ancient Jews and Christians. But in scripture, [servant] hospitality reflects a larger reality than human survival codes. It mysteriously links us to God as well as to one another…[Servant] Hospitality in biblical times was understood to be a way of meeting and receiving holy presence.” 

As Quakers who embrace the theology of “That of God in everyone we meet,” this means then each encounter with our neighbor (enemy or friend) is an opportunity to meet and receive holy presence.

Just look around you in this room – you are in a room filled with opportunities to experience holy presence, right now, if you choose to.  

Or think about this coming week, you will be having meals around tables with family and friends who also are opportunities to experience holy presence.

Or think about your communities or workplaces, or schools and the opportunities you will have to experience and receive holy presence there.    

That is if we are able to see with “servant and hospitable eyes.”

I remember when I was studying to be a pastor, Sue and I attended a Renovaré Conference, where we were given a copy of The Rule of St. Benedict. Ironically, it was a Quaker, Richard Foster who was gleaning wisdom from this foundational work about living in community.  In the book Foster pointed out this passage:

“Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ,
for He is going to say,
“I came as a guest, and you received Me” (Matt. 25:23).
And to all let due honor be shown,
especially to the domestics of the faith and to pilgrims.”

Receive ALL like (or as if they were) Christ. 

Or maybe we could simply say, receive ALL as a “holy presence.” 

Receive all as if we believed that there was that of God in them no matter a guest, a person of faith, or a pilgrim or seeker. 

Jean Vanier, philosopher, theologian, humanitarian and founder of the La’Arch Community wrote about servant hospitality in “Befriending a Stranger” saying,

“In the midst of all the violence and corruption of the world God invites us today to create new places of belonging, places of sharing, of peace and of kindness, places where no-one needs to defend himself or herself; places where each one is loved and accepted with one’s own fragility, abilities, and disabilities. This is my vision for our churches: that they become places of belonging, places of sharing.”

When we start to receive people differently and see with servant and hospitable eyes that of God in them, then we are evoked to create new places of belonging and sharing.  

I believe one of the biggest problems with churches and Quaker meetings today, is that they too often have stopped creating new opportunities for belonging and sharing.  It is easier to run through the motions, or come and sit in comfort for an hour or so and head out for brunch, but that is not how we build community. 

I love all the ways we create opportunities here at First Friends to help people find a place to belong and share. 

·      Connection Dinners for new attenders.

·      Threshing Together and Soul Sister gatherings.

·      Meeting for Reading Events.

·      Seasoned Friends gatherings and road trips.

·      Grief Gatherings for those grieving.

·      Children’s Ministry for our young and youth.

·      Bowling and Baseball Events for our community.

·      Small Groups in homes and at the Meetinghouse.

·      LGBTQIA and Nero-diversity programs to help us be more welcoming to all people. 

·      Working with Exodus to welcome and support refugee families.

·      Having trainings like last week to learn how to stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors. 

And that is only a few of the great ways we are creating opportunities for welcoming, belonging and sharing.

Slowing down and spending time with people for the purpose of developing community, friendships, and deeper relationships is essential to servant hospitality.

Marjorie Thompson went a little further, she says this about the essence of servant hospitality. 

“[Servant] Hospitality means receiving the other, from the heart, into my own dwelling place. It entails providing for the need, comfort, and delight of the other with the openness, respect, freedom, tenderness, and joy that love itself embodies.”

Folks, Hospitality is an expression of love. Or maybe I should say, it is an expression of unselfish love.

In our scripture text for this morning, before Jesus shared his parable, he decided to say a couple things to his host. He says in v. 12,

“When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid.”

In other words, you don’t give in order to get something in return.

Why not?  Because when you behave in this way, it means that you are looking for a selfish gain in some way.  Instead, Jesus tells the man in verses 13-14,

“invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.”

In Israel, the crippled, the lame and the blind were obviously the poor of the society. These were the people who, because of their physical disabilities, could not work, and therefore they could not earn a salary. Most of them depended on charity to survive.

Why should you invite them? Precisely because they can’t repay you. This is the exact opposite of the worldly way of thinking – you scratch my back and I will scratch yours.

Nobody gives in this way, in a spirit of unselfish love. 

But this is how we are to respond, this is the true essence and nature of servant hospitality – it is a concrete expression of our unselfish love for our neighbor.

Also, I categorize this type of servant hospitality as a justice issue or part of Christ’s social gospel, because hospitality to strangers often is considered “doing justice.”

Interestingly the biblical meaning of justice is simply conveyed as “right relationships with one another.” 

So, showing kindness to the nomad or vagrant, helping the immigrant or refugee, or offering support to the widow or orphan, taking in the homeless or poor, and offering hospitality to strangers (even enemies) – these were ALL expressions of just relationships with one’s neighbor in scripture.

Take a moment to really think about this…who are the nomads, vagrants, immigrants, refugees, widows, orphans, homeless, poor, and strangers in our neighborhoods? 

Who are the people who cannot repay us?

Who are the people who are neglected by the mainstream of culture?

Where do they live and spend their time?  Why are they neglected? 

We often look at the extremes and point outside our own four walls, but the reality is too often the strangers are also in our midst. Just maybe the stranger is

·      someone who feels alone,

·      someone who has no friends, no one to talk to.

·      someone who gives and gives but is never recognized by others for using their gifts.

·      someone struggling to keep their marriage together and afraid to admit they are struggling.

·      someone suffering from depression or melancholia.

·      someone who is ashamed by what they have done or what has been done to them.   

·      Someone who is addicted to pride or power or prestige.

·      Someone who is scared or wishes they could be stronger.

·      Someone who lives in fear because of the color of their skin, the language they speak, or the status they are seeking.

The reality is each of us in this Meetinghouse all have at one time been or maybe currently are strangers. 

·      We all want to be welcomed.

·      We all want to belong. 

·      We all want to be full participants. 

·      We all want to be needed. 

·      We all want to be delighted. 

·      We all want to be loved.

·      We all want to be in right relationships

·      We all want to be seen and known.

This is why it is so important that when we practice servant hospitality, as John Fenner at Parker Palmer’s Center for Courage and Renewal claims, it is an “appreciation of otherness.” He says,

“Appreciating the value of otherness, for me, goes beyond tolerance – beyond “you’re welcome as long as you play by our rules.” Appreciating the value of otherness entails a level of engagement, inquiry, dialogue, and interaction in which all members can freely share their gifts, learn from each other, and ultimately grow spiritually together. This is hard work and takes time and practice. It takes a willingness to be stretched and to sit with discomfort. It takes a belief that there is “that of God in everyone.”

So whether at Meeting for Worship, around our kitchen table, at your work meeting, with your yoga class, or wherever you are called to be a servant and hospitable this week, remember to have servant and hospitable eyes, receive all like Christ, help people to feel that they belong and are appreciated, and remember that we are all strangers seeking to be known. 

Let me close this message with a Prayer of Hospitality by Liz Dyer 

Give us eyes to see the deepest needs of people.

Give us hearts full of love for our neighbors as well as for the strangers we meet.

Help us understand what it means to love others as we love ourselves.

Teach us to care in a way that strengthens those who are sick.

Fill us with generosity so we feed the hungry, clothe the naked and give drink to the thirsty.

Let us be a healing balm to those who are weak and lonely and weary by offering our kindness to them.

May we remember to listen, to smile, to offer a helping hand each time the opportunity presents itself.

Give us hearts of courage that we will be brave enough to risk loving our enemy.

Inspire us to go out of our way to include those in the margins.

Help us to be welcoming and inclusive to all who come to our door.

Let us be God’s hospitality in the world.

Amen

Now, as we enter waiting worship this morning, take a moment to ponder the following queries,

·      How might I embrace Servant Hospitality in my daily life?

·      Who do I need to work on receiving as Christ or Holy Presence in my life?

·      What would help me “appreciate the value of otherness”? 

3-8-26 - A Treasury of Life in Community

A Treasury of Life in Community

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 8, 2026

Good morning, friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning the scripture I have chosen to support my message is from 1 Timothy 6:6-12, 17-19 from The Message version.

A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough.

But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.

But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.

Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

With all that is happening in our world and in the news, I continue to ask myself some difficult queries.  Some are simply “why?” - others I am unable to even vocalize or develop as the atrocities of our world continue to unfold. 

As I try and ponder all of this, I am led to ask myself,

What can I do?

What can we do?

What can our Meeting do?

This may be the same for you, as well. 

This morning, the catalyst we are going to explore that brought back my joy was “community.”  Now, you might think that we already discussed this last week, with gather, but there is so much more I want to unpack to help us see the foundations of true community.

You may have missed it, but we heard them being described at the end of our scripture for this morning.  As well, some of this has its roots in what I spoke about last week.

Before we get to those, let us look at something Leadership and Organizational expert, Margaret Wheatley in the beginning of her book, “Turning to One Another” says,

“As I listen to many people, in many countries, I’m convinced we are disturbed by similar things, I’ve listened carefully to many comments and included some of them here.  Taken as a whole, they paint a picture of people everywhere troubled by these times, questioning, what the future holds. Here are some of the comments and feelings I’ve heard expressed:”

See if what she has heard resonates with your own feelings deep down, currently,

·       Problems keep getting bigger; they’re never solved. We solve one and it only creates more.

·       I never learn why something happened.  Maybe nobody knows, maybe it’s a conspiracy to keep us from knowing.

·       There’s more violence now, and it’s affecting people I love.

·       Who can I believe? Who will tell me what’s really going on?

·       Things are out of control and only getting worse.

·       I have no time for my family anymore. I’m living a life I don’t like.

·       I worry about my children. What will the world be like for them?

She continues,

“Confronted with so much uncertainty and irrationality, how can we feel hopeful about the future? And this degree of uncertainty is affecting us personally.  It’s changing how we act and feel. I notice in myself and others. We’re more cynical, impatient, fearful, angry, defensive, anxious; more likely to hurt those we love.”

OK, if this is true and resonates with you, and much of the world, currently, our scripture text may get down to the fundamentals of how to begin making a shift.  Something I want us to consider in light of thinking about our need for community.

In our scripture text, we find Paul writing to Timothy to advise, and counsel him on ministry. Most of Paul's epistles were written to churches or faith communities or gatherings (thus the names Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, etc..), but 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon were written to individuals.

In this first letter to Timothy, Paul focuses his attention on several main subjects. 

• Law

• Prayer

• Bishops and Deacons

• Advice to young pastors

• And finally…Faithful Living.

Paul was often more radical than we allow him to be.  And often his writing has been more studied and even followed than the actual life and ministry of Jesus.  I think for this morning, we need to look in more depth at what Paul is presenting us from at least two different vantage points. 

1.      What is Paul telling Timothy about how he should live within community?

2.      What are we to glean from this last part of Paul’s letter for our questioning condition?

Before we even explore the scripture or look at Paul’s words, let’s take a moment and look at what Paul and Timothy’s relationship can teach us. 

Paul was Timothy’s mentor. It was Paul who told young Timothy,

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and purity.” 

Paul and Timothy were not of the same generation.  Some have described it as a Boomer and a Millennial relationship for their time. 

Let’s be honest, too often, we have a hard time with this in community.  We deem people as “out of our circle” simply because of their age. Sadly, we consider people outdated or too immature all the time, before we ever even listen to them.  

Folks, the young and old have wisdom that can be shared and learned from.  This is so important for us to grasp within community.

And what about mentorship?  Being a mentor is more than hobby or a friendship, it is often a calling of the Spirit. 

To mentor someone younger is to be willing to be vulnerable about your own life and struggles, while also living empowered by the Spirit’s nudging to be a worthy model. And to become a mentoree, it takes being open to listen, a humility to learn, and ultimately a willingness to act. 

Just take a moment and recall the people that have been mentors in your life.  Who were they? Were they your same age? What wisdom did they share with you? 

Also, have you experienced this mentorship within our Meeting? How or when have you committed to mentor someone younger or allowed someone older to mentor you?

When I started my training as a minister, we often focused on Paul and Timothy as a model. I remember being taught that if you didn’t have someone pouring their life into you while you also had someone you were pouring your life into, that you would never be a good leader

I might say, today, that if we don’t allow people to pour their lives into us, as we pour our lives into others, that we are not fully embracing all that our community has to offer us.    

That is why I love our community at First Friends.  We have mentors, we have Pauls mentoring Timothys, Elizabeths mentoring Marys, Different Generations learning from each other.  We have parents who have grown children sharing their struggles and joys with young parents just starting out.  We have young people following career paths that are being mentored by those already successful in their careers.  I could go on and on, but I think you are getting what I am saying. 

Paul and Timothy’s lives are first and foremost a model of what it means to be part of community. 

With that in mind, we can now transition to what Paul was actually saying to Timothy.  He said,

Remember to be yourself (who God created you to be!)  

This is something we all have a problem with in our world.  Too often we want to be anyone but ourselves.  And when we are not living our life out of the Light within us – we live a life that creates anything but what Paul describes as a “Righteous life.”  

And notice, Paul didn’t just want Timothy to be a “cookie-cutter” of himself.  I think too often, today, people take on mentoring for the wrong purposes. Not to help the mentoree embrace their true selves and full potential.  

Paul also warned Timothy of the dangers of money, and many, still today, need to head his warning,

“Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.”

Money as well as its partners…power and control are far from the life and community that Jesus modeled…and Paul wants Timothy to know that going down that path leads to destruction.

Instead, Paul encourages Timothy to “Run for your life from all of this.”

Paul’s warning seems rather simple. 

• Don’t be full of yourself but remember to be yourself.

• Don’t be obsessed with money or any material possession for that matter.

Rather pursue a life of

• Wonder

• Faith

• Love

• Steadiness, and

• Courtesy

And as Paul finishes his first letter to Timothy, he says…

“Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.”

Now, we are getting to the fundamentals of a life in community with those around us. 

·      Do good to others

·      Help others

·      Be extravagantly generous with others

Let me go back to Margaret Wheatley for a moment, she realized that life comes from us making a change in how we act and feel and how we respond to those around us. 

Much like what Paul was helping Timothy understand.  After Margaret Wheatley asked “What can we do now to restore hope to the future?” she said this,

“I’ve found that I can only change how I act if I stay aware of my beliefs and assumptions. Thoughts always reveal themselves in behavior.  As humans, we often contradict ourselves – we say one thing and do another.  We state who we are, but then act contrary to that.  We say we’re open minded, but then judge someone for their appearance. We say we’re a team, but then gossip about a colleague. If we want to change our behavior, we need to notice our actions, and see if we can uncover the belief that led to that response.”

And I think this is exactly what Paul and Timothy are getting at about truly living within community.  You and I need to get honest and ask ourselves some tough queries:

• Are we contradicting ourselves? Do we act contrary to that in which we are called by God?

• Are we truly being ourselves?

• Are we trying to do good?

• Are we being rich in helping others?

• Are we extravagantly generous?

These are what I would call “Community Queries” that I want us to ponder and reflect upon in the upcoming months.

Just maybe if we were doing those things well, we would not have so much worry in our lives. 

Maybe those problems wouldn’t seem so difficult. 

Maybe there would be less violence and more love, and people would be valued above the color of their skin, their political power, or marketable influence in our world.

Maybe there would be less conspiracy and more trust among us.  And just maybe we would find more time for what really matters – like our family, friends, and yes, our community. 

Or better yet, as Paul (through the eyes of Eugene Peterson) put it,

Just maybe we will gain a “life that is truly life.”  

Amen.

Now, as we enter waiting worship this morning, take a moment to return to those queries and ask yourself,

• Am I contradicting myself? Do I act contrary to that in which I am called by God?

• Am I truly being myself?

• Am I trying to do good?

• Am I being rich in helping others?

• Am I extravagantly generous?

• Who is my mentor and who am I mentoring?

3-1-26 - When We Joyfully Gather

When We Joyfully Gather

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

March 1, 2026

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  The scripture passage I chose for this morning’s message is a short one, from Mattew 18:20  from the New Revised Standard Version,

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” 

This week’s catalyst that I sketched and reflected on for bringing back my joy was to gather.   

Our scripture for this morning is a promise that calls us to gather with the Divine in our midst.  Sometimes among Friends you will hear someone mention after a meaningful or focused Meeting for Worship that what they experienced was a “gathered meeting.”  

But this gathering is much more than just being in the same meeting room or sitting with each other. Rather it could be described as a gathering that lets go of our mental and emotional preoccupations and opens together to the Divine/God/Christ/Spirit/the Light/the loving Mystery at the center of everything. This allows those gathered to shift levels of consciousness collectively, sometimes in a mild way, sometimes with more intensity.

We call it a gathered meeting when those present experience their oneness with one another in the Divine. In the time of being gathered, the group receives guidance, healing, teaching, and ministry from the Spirit, blessings that strengthen them, unite them in love, joy, peace, and refresh them to participate in work the Spirit is nudging them to accomplish together in the world.

To gather in this way can also be experienced in small groups, book groups, times of meditation or study, protests and activism, singing together, and even programmed classes and presentations. And gathering with others is essential for Friends to do the work of the Meeting on committees, boards, and within our Yearly Meeting.  That is why we believe our business (and for that matter any gathering of Friends) to be an extension of our worship. 

It is what I grew up saying in other churches that I did not fully understand until among Quakers, that when we come together in this way, we are communing with one another. 

We are finding “Common Union” with our fellow neighbors and friends.  Whether that is around a table over a meal in our homes, on a walk with friends in a park, in a circle at unprogrammed worship, or even on a road trip with a couple of friends in the car, when we gather together with others we should be seeking “common union” with one another.  This is why when we enter waiting worship, some Quakers would say that we are entering our time of communion. 

Interestingly, the context surrounding our scripture passage for this morning is not about the importance of worship, or Spiritual formation, or even doing the ministry of the Meeting. Ironically, it follows a discussion of navigating conflict, or what to do when someone wrongs or hurts you. 

Which makes total sense to why I was led to include “gather” in my catalysts for bringing back my joy. 

When we are going through hard times or struggling with conflict, we easily lose our joy.  But it often takes gathering with our Friends and loved ones to be reminded of the joy that we have within us.   

So, this morning, I want to dive a bit deeper into the wisdom of gathering, a knowledge we see evidenced in the life and example of Jesus and that I believe, science is finding increasingly important to our lives.

Before we set up Threshing Together for the Men and what has become Soul Sisters for the Women of our Meeting, I shared in a message some findings about isolation that I heard on NPR that made me realize the need for such fellowship opportunities.  I went back and did a little more research and with the help of Drew Rick-Miller the editor of Science for the Church, I have a bit more for us to chew on and wrestle with.

The former surgeon general Vivek Murthy named our current situation as an epidemic of loneliness. In his study he described the danger we are facing this way:

“The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity.”

And the rates of isolation in the United States currently are dangerously high. Murthy adds,

“Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation has been an underappreciated public health crisis that has harmed individual and societal health. Our relationships are a source of healing and well-being hiding in plain sight—one that can help us live healthier, more fulfilled, and more productive lives. Given the significant health consequences of loneliness and isolation, we must prioritize building social connection the same way we have prioritized other critical public health issues such as tobacco, obesity, and substance use disorders.”

Of course, gathering together for worship or one of the many other ways I mentioned earlier are just some of the ways we together can reduce isolation and address the health crisis of loneliness.

I think Jesus knew the danger inherent in loneliness—one we measure today with scientific studies – and his antidote we heard in our scripture for today. 

This spring, the Global Flourishing Study, a grand effort to measure human flourishing across the globe by collecting data from over 200,000 people in over 20 countries, representing nearly two-thirds of the world’s population—released the first wave of results. Next spring, a second wave comes out, which surveys the same people. These studies begin to tell us more about the causes of flourishing.

This massive study examines six major domains that contribute to flourishing that have been identified in the existing scholarly literature. Just listen to these 6 contributors to our flourishing (and possibly our joy),

1) financial and material stability,

2) happiness and life satisfaction (Joy!),

3) mental and physical health,

4) meaning and purpose,

5) character and virtue, and

6) close social relationships.

One of the key findings, should grab our attention both as Friends and as a Meeting. Participation in group activities was a pathway to flourishing, and in nearly every country, the positive connection between flourishing and religious service attendance was stronger than between flourishing and participation in civic activities.

Weekly participation in group activities—both religious and secular—made a measurable difference in flourishing compared to those that never participated in either religious or civic groups. That is to say, the benefits are not exclusive to gathering as communities of faith.

Additionally, participation in religious groups and regular worship attendance was also strongly connected to another key dimension, meaning and purpose.

This shows that participation in faith communities contribute, in nearly every country, to higher levels of purpose. And remember, these were people of all different faiths.

The global flourishing study adds to the growing literature that identifies the benefits of gathering regularly and gathering intentionally in our faith communities.  Just what Jesus encouraged and Friends have embraced throughout history.

Folks, I can sum this up pretty easily, gathering with others is good for your health, and gathering with a religious or faith community is even better. 

A large part of my spiritual formation growing up, was being told I needed to have some type of daily quiet time or devotional time – where I was to be alone with God in scripture and prayer.  I even for a long time bought into the “JAM Principle” – where I was to focus each day on simply “Jesus And Me – JAM”    

I will be very honest, I was never very good at it. I found it easier to gather with my youth group or school friends in groups large and small for worship and study. Throughout high school I had gatherings in my parent’s basement for this very purpose.  We didn’t know what all that we were doing back then, but I remember discussing how “Jesus and Me” had to be more than that. 

I would continue to search for a more meaningful gathering until I happened upon my first unprogrammed worship experience in my doctoral program on Cannon Beach, Oregon almost 20 years later. I would still today, describe that  experience as a “gathered meeting” which helped me let go of my mental and emotional preoccupations, and opened up each of us gathered together to the Divine/God/Christ/Spirit/the Light/the loving Mystery at the center of everything.”

Yet, there seems to be an ongoing trend at least in the United States of expressing “Christian faith alone.”  Something, bad theology, poor exegesis, even Christian nationalism, and the need for power have created.

Numerous studies on the decline of church participation indicate that the “nones” (those who are not affiliated with any organized religion) still believe in the Divine, pray, and hold fast to other aspects of their faith. For many, it’s less a breaking away from faith and more fading away towards expressions of faith outside the communal life of the church.

While I totally believe that folks can encounter God in isolation, it is clear, especially after spending two years in a pandemic, that when we isolate we miss out on the benefits both of social connection, but also of gathering for worship, formation, and ministry with fellow Friends.

Let me close with one final story.  This week my mom, posted a Throwback Thursday photo of a news article about the community dinner that our Meeting in Oregon helped serve every Wednesday night at 5pm. You can see the photo on the cover of our bulletin this morning (right). The entire 10,000-person community of Silverton, Oregon was invited.  

Our Meeting in conjunction with the host church and other faith communities in our town helped staff, cook, and serve the people.  It started with only serving 39 people the first time we offered it but grew to serving almost 600 people every Wednesday night.  While our family lived there and served we were part of the 100,000th meal celebration. 

Yet food was just the catalyst for getting a widely diverse section of the community together.  We had homeless people eating with doctors, young families with the elderly, we had Mormons talking with Christians, Lutherans with Quakers, Republicans with Democrats, LGBTQ youth outcasts sitting with Evangelicals, it was amazing and it was a weekly event – and nothing like I have ever seen sense.   

But what happened around those tables in that giant fellowship hall was more than filling stomachs.  It became a place to discuss life, to listen to each other, to meet each other’s needs, to network, to even at times sense where the Divine was speaking to our community as a whole.  We laughed together, we cried when people passed away in our community, we even at times sang songs together, as most nights we had someone from the community playing the piano.  Holy days were celebrated as a community. 

I would say THAT weekly dinner did more for that small community than most Sunday morning worship gatherings.  Because it was bigger than our religious divisions. There we found guidance, healing, teaching, and ministry from the Spirit, blessings that strengthen us all, united us in love, joy, peace, and refreshed us to participate in the work the Spirit was nudging us to accomplish together in our little part of the world.  Just sharing this brings back so much joy. 

That right there is why we need to engage with our neighbors, Friends, and loved ones, because when we gather, it can bring back our joy in a multitude of ways.  I challenge you this week to find a group to engage in a deeper more meaningful way.  See how it changes you and those around you.  And allow the Spirit to reignite the joy in your heart!  Amen.

Now as we enter a time of waiting worship, please take a moment to ponder the following queries:  

·      Have I ever experienced a “Gathered Meeting” – what made it so?

·      How have I let loneliness and isolation impact me?  

·      What community or group do I need to engage to reignite my joy?

2-22-26 - Joyfully Holding in the Light

Joyfully Holding in the Light

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 22, 2026

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning our scripture text is from 1 Peter 4:7-10 from The Message version,  

Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. 

Last week, I shared a personal testimony and talked about a set of catalysts I gleaned from “The Book of Joy” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama which helped bring back my joy during some difficult times.

Some of you may be a bit surprised that the first catalyst for bringing back my joy was to pray. Back then, I used terminology like “to pray or enter in” because that is what Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama had used in their book, and because I had not fully embraced the Quaker concept of “holding someone or something in the Light.”   

When we were in Michigan last weekend visiting Sue’s family member who was recently diagnosed with cancer, prayer and how we pray came up on several occasions.  At one point a question arose about “what are the right things to say to God to get the best results.” Questions, as a pastor, I get quite often.  I am sure we all have been in that place during a difficult time and wanted to find and use the magic words.

I found it ironic that this week, my friend and fellow Quaker minister, Phil Gulley wrote in Plain Speech with Phillip Gulley about how he stopped praying for people and started holding them in the Light. In it he said this:

Praying is asking God to do something, but when we promise to hold someone in the Light, we become the doers. We no longer ask God to heal; we commit ourselves to lives of healing. We no longer ask God to tend the poor; we commit ourselves to lives of generosity and selflessness. We no longer ask God to magically intervene; we commit ourselves to lives of connection and support.  

Today, if I was sketching and writing out those catalysts from our bulletin last week, I would not have said prayer but rather used the Quaker phrase “hold in the Light.” It seems to command more substance than just sending “thoughts and prayers” which often seems to lack sincerity or at least sound hollow in our current day and age.

Let’s be honest, as Sue and I discussed this past weekend, there are no words that fully grasp what you are trying to say in these difficult moments.  But our lives can speak when there are no words.  Being present was more than having the right words. Giving hugs, listening, and sharing the joy and love that the Light with in us nudged us to share with Sue’s family was evidence that the Divine Light was present and in our midst.    

Now, for many, “holding someone or some situation in the Light” is synonymous with prayer, but when looking deeper at the meaning of this phrase, I find it resonates in my own soul and causes me a deeper spiritual exploration – and yes, I realized it brings joy to both my own life and to the lives of those around me.   

The New York Monthly Meeting writes this about the phrase, “Hold in the Light.”   

To “Hold in the Light” means to ask for God’s presence to illumine a person, situation, or problem, whether in concern or thanksgiving.

The history of this Quaker phrase is not easily understood or found. Google it and you will find out how varied the definitions and how little is really out there to explain it.  I have even asked a couple weighty Friends and professor Friends over the years about the phrase, and they are still on the search to find its origin. The closest I have come is in an article from Friends Journal which stated,

“The metaphorical image of ‘holding’ someone ‘in the light’ didn’t appear until a 1969 poem by Barbara Reynolds which included the couplet: ‘First take your thought, this baby thing/ And hold it to the Light.” (it wouldn’t become common in prose for another decade).”

Even my weighty and professor Friends, were not sure if that late of a date is correct, but I have learned in the research that many of our Quaker phrases are modern additions or maybe I should say, “new revelations” even though they often sound as though they could be foundational. Another great example of this is our S.P.I.C.E.S.  

I remember when I first had someone tell me they were “holding me in the light,” it honestly took me back to when our oldest child, Alex was born. 

When we brought them home from the hospital, they were a bit jaundice and the doctor recommended we, “hold them in the light” to allow the sunlight to heal them.

I didn’t get that beautiful metaphor for this spiritual principle as a young parent, but I do, now.  

My part in holding someone in the Light is more than hopeful or wishful words – but going further and physically picking up someone and helping them get into the Light.  

As well, I find for someone unfamiliar with this Quaker terminology, it causes them to wonder or even try and imagine this Divine Light.  If you look at early Quaker spirituality, you find that the image of light often represents the mysterious presence of God (much like it often does in Scripture.)

Like Quaker Edward Burrough (one of the Valient Sixty) who said,

“All that dwell in the light, their habitation is in God, and they know a hiding place in the day of storm; and those who dwell in the light, are built upon the rock, and cannot be moved, for who are moved or shaken, goes from the light, and so goes from their strength, and from the power of God, and loses the peace and the enjoyment of the presence of God.”

Or George Fox, himself, who said simply,

“The first step of peace is to stand still in the Light.”

In the Bible, John 1:15 actually says, “God is Light.” And there are verses that describe the Divine as the “Father of Lights” and “Light of the World,” or even God as a sun and shield.”

Quakers have multiple ways to describe this Light – everything from the Spirit, the Seed, the Inward Light, the Spiritual Christ in You, and even “That of God in Everyone.”

Yet, to hold someone or a situation in the light, I believe is to seek to bring that person into deeper contact with the Divine Presence or Present Teacher in whatever way God has called us to do that – and that often means in a tangible way.  

Obviously as followers of Christ, the scriptures use the illustration that Jesus is the Light of the World and that his Spirit “illumines” our lives and brings us into Truth.

So, for me personally, when I hold someone or a specific situation in the Light, I imagine God’s grace, love, joy, wisdom and peace engulfing and surrounding their life and situation.

But as Phil Gulley pointed out, it also makes us the doers. It means we must also act or embody the Divine to those we are holding in the Light. 

You and I are being called to be the bearers of God’s grace, love, joy, wisdom, and peace in the lives that we are holding. When we hold someone in the Light, God’s light lives out through us.  So, we are also holding them in the Light that we provide.  

Folks, really think about this – the Light in you and me may be the only Light that someone who is struggling experiences.     

Phil Gulley goes into this deeper. He says,

Today, when I promise to hold someone in the Light, I am not asking God to miraculously or magically intervene in their lives, something God doesn’t seem inclined to do, at least as often as, or in the manner, we would like God to. Rather, what I am promising is that, insofar as I am able, I will embody the love and light of God to those who are hurting. I will, insofar as I am able, walk alongside those victimized by hardship and hate. I will, insofar as I am able, do justice in the midst of injustice, practice mercy in the midst of cruelty, and tell the truth when all about us the world is drowning in a sea of lies.

When we say we will hold someone in the Light, do we mean that?

·      Are you and I promising to embody the love and light of God to those hurting?

·      Are you and I promising to walk alongside those victimized by hardship and hate?

·      Are you and I promising to do justice in the midst of injustice, practice mercy in the midst of cruelty, and tell the truth when surrounded by lies?

Another way of looking at this is how a Friend from Ann Arbor Friends Meeting described it,

“I like to think of ‘holding in the light’ as being ‘holding in Love.’  The Light to me represents God’s love and some of its qualities, and so when I think of holding someone in the Light, I picture them surrounded by visual, bright Light, but also surrounded by something with warmth and a soft texture. In the Psalms there is reference to being born up on the wings of an eagle, and I like the image of an eagle’s wings as part of God’s love. The wing can be powerful, strong, and uplifting, but on the ground the wings can encircle us in a warm and comforting way. Thus, I envision someone being held in brightness, warmth and softness.”    

This is why our comforting and joyful presence, our hugs, our listening ears, our willingness to make a meal or sit with a person in tough times is so very important. 

You and I are called to be the “eagles wings” that encircle, warm and comfort our neighbors and loved ones.

Folks, we are called to be the Divine incarnate in the lives of our neighbors.  

And when we do this, it can bring true joy, because discovering joy in holding our neighbors and loved ones in the Light not only enhances our lives but also creates a ripple-effect, fostering kindness and compassion within our communities. 

I think this is because caring for and serving our neighbors and loved ones is a fundamental aspect of human existence that resonates deeply with our shared values and experiences. 

Just think about it.  Maybe the reason we are so divided in our world currently is because we are not holding each other in the Light and seeking the well-being of those around us. 

Again, this is why Jesus summed up the entire gospel with “Love God and Love your neighbors as yourself.”  Jesus knew we would be the Light that others would be seeing – and we would be the ones called to hold each other in this Light.   

But once again, I have to point out that phrase “as yourself” Love your neighbors as yourself.  Hold your neighbors and loved ones in the Light as you hold yourself.  This is again where we must point the finger back at ourselves and ask,  

·      How good are we at holding ourselves in the Light? 

·      How good are we at letting others hold us in the Light?

·      Do we simply want magic words from a distance, too?

Let’s return to our scripture to close this morning.  Let me rephrase it a bit to speak more clearly to what I have already said.

Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in [holding each other in the Light.] Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully, [joyfully!]. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. 

Let us go this morning intending to joyfully hold each other fully in the Light of God’s Love! 

Amen.

As we enter waiting worship take a moment to ponder those queries from my message:

Start With Yourself:

·      How good am I at holding myself in the Light?

·      How good am I at letting others hold me in the Light?

·      Do I simply want magic words from a distance?

Then think about others:

·      Am I promising to embody the love and light of God to those hurting?

·      Am I promising to walk alongside those victimized by hardship and hate?

·      Am I promising to do justice in the midst of injustice, practice mercy in the midst of cruelty, and tell the truth when surrounded by lies?

2-15-26 - We Could All Use Some Joy

We Could All Use Some Joy

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 15, 2026

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. This morning, the scripture I have chosen to support my message is from Psalm 51:9-15 from The Message version.  

God, make a fresh start in me,
    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
    or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
    put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
    so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
    and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
    I’ll let loose with your praise.

Quakers often talk about testimony. It is best understood as the public witness of an inward faith of both individual and community.  We see it as the consequence of one’s relationship to the Divine and the outworking of that relationship in one’s life.  This morning, as your pastor, I want to give a personal testimony to our community at First Friends.  

After Quaker Q&A last Sunday, I was discussing my message “Living by the Law of Love” with a member of our meeting. I asked them how they thought that message went, and they honestly responded, “It was good, but it could have used some more joy.” 

Now, I take every word that people at First Friends speak to me, email me, text me, and even post on social media about my messages very seriously.

Much of that feedback helps me know whether I am speaking to the condition of the Meeting and listening carefully to the Spirit’s guidance throughout the week – no matter if the responses are positive or negative.  

And I will be the first to admit if I sense I have missed the Spirit’s intent. I know my passions can get the best of me at times, and I know how I see or understand things can get in the way.  Thus sometimes, like last Sunday, I have to apologize for my choices and my words.    

And I know this may surprise some, but the majority of responses I receive lean heavily negative, because people tend to feel more inclined to share negative things over sharing positives.  

I thank all of you who have taken time to share encouragements or just check in with me, those keep me grounded.  

The reality is that pastors must have thick skin, continually educate themselves, and especially among Quakers always be ready to have their motives, authority, and education questioned. 

It is very humbling, but also at times extremely lonely. After 30 years of ministry, three graduate degrees, and numerous experiences in multiple religious communities, I have found at times “joy” to be a real challenge.

Once I took a class where we studied how the great theologians and pastors throughout history all suffered from melancholia (even George Fox was in that list - which if you read his journals, you cannot miss it.) This is why spiritual directors and therapists are so important to ministry professionals.

When the person said that my sermon could use more joy, last week, I did not respond but instead decided to ponder it, let it season, and allow it to speak to my condition in a Quakerly manner as we discussed last week at Quaker Q&A.      

Earlier this week, this pondering took me back to another challenging time in my life, actually just before coming here to serve as pastor of First Friends. 

At the time, our yearly meeting was preparing to split in the Northwest over same sex marriage and our Local Meeting and myself were getting a lot of heat, we also were just beginning a controversial change in leadership in our country, and I and my family had suffered greatly for standing up for what we believed about love and the beautiful diversity of people (including those in my own family).  

At this time, I found myself in a rather low place. I was struggling with my own identity as a Quaker minister, the trials and challenges of ministry, balancing family, and wondering if my joy, which had seemed to retreat during the struggles, would ever return. 

One afternoon, as I was perusing the new books at my local bookseller, I happened upon a book ironically titled, The Book of Joy. 

It wasn’t the title at first that caught my attention, but rather the two smiling headshots of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the cover. Who honestly looked like to giddy schoolboys.

I quickly picked up the book and found a chair to leaf through the pages.

I found myself immediately hooked in just the two-page invitation by the co-authors at the beginning of the book. Where they wrote,

“Lasting happiness cannot be found in pursuit of any goal or achievement. It does not reside in fortune or fame. It resides only in the human mind and heart, and it is here that we hope you will find it.”

I purchased the book and returned to my home, where sadly the book went on a pile as the reality of life and ministry returned to masking my joy. Oh, the stack of books we have good intentions of reading.

It would be several months before I would pick up the book again and put it in my bag as I headed off on a personal retreat.

It must have been profound, because I still can remember exactly where I was and the view from my chair at the retreat center at the Mount Angel Abbey in Mount Angel, Oregon, when I read the following words from Desmond Tutu,

“We are meant to live in joy. This does not mean that life will be easy or painless. It means that we can turn our faces to the wind and accept that this is the storm we must pass through. We cannot succeed in denying what exists. The acceptance of reality is the only place from which change can begin.”   

Most of the time, you and I are so focused on escaping the pain, hurt, and ridicule of the storm that we don’t see how we can use it for the positive. 

I was stuck for a long time – years in fact.  I thought I had lost my joy and was at a place where nothing could help bring change.  Maybe you can relate, because you too feel that way right now with what all is happening in our world and you too have your face turned toward the wind of the storm.

During the three-day retreat I consumed that 300-page book. I could not stop reading it.

I found that Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama began, as Quakers say, speaking to my condition in a very personal way.

Even though I had thought I lost my joy, in reality it was still just under the surface of my life. I believe our joy and the Light within us is intertwined and deeply connected.  

I was starting to learn.

It was an eye-opening revelation when I realized that my joy had been diminished not because of how others were treating me, or what was going on in my world or Meeting, but simply because of ME. 

It was I who was struggling to be grateful.

It was I who was lacking motivation.

It was I who was no longer able to reframe my own story to see the joy around me. 

I found myself frustrated when I had to admit I was jealous of fellow ministers and friends who seemed able to balance the challenges and still find joy in their lives.  What was their secret?

I also realized I had been suffering from chronic stress that left me fragmented and not living in the present moment, and my expectations were not realistic and my ambitions self-centered. 

My lack of joy was because of ME. 

Or as my therapist at the time said, “You allow the walls to build around you, but miss that there is an unlocked gate in that surrounding wall for you to walk through where your joy awaits on the other side. It is time to walk on through.”    

I lacked joy, because I was in the way of it returning.

I had been approaching my problems with rigidity and reactivity, and I had lost, once again, the ability to confront my life with creativity, compassion, humor, and acceptance.  All things Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama were opening my eyes to see.     

At one point my inner artist had me put the book down briefly and had me grabbing for my sketchpad. Sometimes words can inspire a deeper and more authentic expression from our hearts. 

As well, I have learned that expressing my creativity has always been a first step in the return of my joy.  That is why on most Fridays, my day off, you will find me spending time creating in my studio.  Some of us knit or crochet, some paint paintings, some write songs, some craft poems, some rearrange furniture, some garden, some organize, some solve problems…and I could go on and on. 

I sketch…and sometimes that is just simply doodling.  Some of my doodles have become mouthpieces for my ministry. Just the other day, I saw the doodle I made in my backyard the day I sensed the Spirit leading me to create the Friends Journal cover for the 400th Anniversary of George Fox’s Birth and it brought a smile to my face remembering that moment and being nudged by the Spirit.        

Back at that retreat, I was inspired to sketch out eight essentials from the Book of Joy that were speaking to my condition in the present moment (pictured here):

Pray, Gather, Community, Serve, Respect, Encourage, Forgive, Speak Truth.  

These were not just buzz words or hopeful goals. These were the essentials that I now knew could be the catalysts for bringing back my joy. 

How I viewed and approached these essentials would gradually change my understanding of life and ministry and bring the freedom I needed from my joyless pain.

Since that initial sketch, I have added several more essentials to the list, but these remained important keys to helping me return the joy in my life.

After returning from the retreat, I found my life and attitude changing and my joy returning.  I made some personal changes and life brought other adjustments, but most of all my joy began to return…well…or just maybe I allowed it to resurface – or I opened the gate in the wall and walked through.

I have continued to return to the wisdom of Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama in The Book of Joy. I was even inspired to paint a modern icon of the joyful soul of Archbishop Desmond Tutu which I prominently place on my wall in my studio to remind me of what joy looks like.

It is how I imagine Archbishop Tutu responding to this interaction from the book about him losing all his hair.

“The Dalai Lama erupted into a belly laugh and then began pointing at the Archbishop. ‘His face, his face,’ he said, gesturing to the Archbishop’s bald head. ‘He looks like a monk now, doesn’t he?’”

It simply makes me laugh and I can almost hear them giggle.

It continues to bring me joy and often entertaining conversations, and it is a great reminder to not suppress the joy within me.

For the next serval Sundays, I feel the Spirit is nudging me to expand on these eight essentials (pray, gather, community, serve, respect, encourage, forgive, speak truth) and how joy can flow from each of them into our daily lives. 

Just maybe during these difficult times, they will help you find your joy again. I know many of you are longing for that, because you have told me this.

As I found out, I needed some catalysts in my life to begin to see that return. 

Please understand, it is okay not to always feel joyful or sense joy in your life.  There are going to be rough times – and I know for many of you that is right now. But remember that joy may be just under the surface waiting for you to open the gate and allow it to envelope you.

This may be a season where the work on ourselves is just as important as our work in the world.        

Let me close our time with a prayer based on our scripture for this morning.   

God, make a fresh start in us,
    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of our lives.
Don’t throw us out with the trash,
    or fail to breathe holiness in us.
Bring us back from gray exile,
    put a fresh wind in our sails!
Give us a job teaching rebels your ways
    so the lost can find their way home.
Commute our death sentences, God, our salvation God,
    and we’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton our lips, dear God;
    We’ll let loose with your praise. Amen!

Now, as we enter waiting worship. Take a moment to ponder the following queries:

·      When have I felt I have lost the joy in my life? What caused it?

·      What am I allowing to steal my joy currently, why?

·      What really brings me joy? How can it help me face the difficult “winds and storms” of life?

2-8-26 - Living by the Law of Love

Living by the Law of Love

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 8, 2026

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  The scripture I have chosen to support my sermon is from Galatians 6:2-10 from the Message Version.

Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.

 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.

Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

So, let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.

This morning, I must be honest, even though as a pastor, I usually I am drawn to scripture, other writings, poetry, meditation, or prayer in difficult moments and times – and I often guide others in these same paths – this week, I just wanted to throw up my hands and cry out, saying “enough is enough.” 

I wanted to literally “cast my burdens upon God” – “cast” in the true sense of throwing them with great force at God.

I also know that if anyone would have known I was considering casting those burdens at God, they would probably be quick to recite me another verse from the bible like

 “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest…for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

But let’s be really honest, that all sounds wonderful, easy and quickly resolved, but I have never found it happens that way.   

Our burdens often abide. [Sigh]

Our casting them off may be better described by a fisherman’s line that is sent far across the water and then slowly comes back to us as we reel it in.

Yet, as I continued to ponder this week, I noticed again that line from the text from Matthew – his yoke is easy and his burden is light – it may be easy and light, but did you notice…

IT’S STILL THERE? 

Even Christ has a yoke and a burden! 

I think we too often miss that in our desire to have our burdens removed, but it also helps us identify and feel a real sense of connection with Christ. 

Even in scripture we too often write off the fact that Jesus was greatly burdened, he held such a heavy load that at one point he breaks down in tears looking out at Jerusalem and realizing their bad decisions, and on another occasion even runs away to the Garden of Gethsemane and with great force throws his burdens back at God. 

I can relate to this Jesus.

Folks, please hear me on this, we must get past the sugar-coated Christianity that leaves us with useless memes and scripture soundbites, which we too often translate as “hope and possibility”…yet often leave us feeling empty or even more burdened.

Imagine, if I was meeting with you and you had a major burden, and as your pastor, I said, “I think you should just cast your burdens on Christ or leave that at the feet of Jesus for him to take care of, or Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light.”  There is something off putting and even demeaning in that.   Like it is magic or even simple.  Casting our burdens on Christ are anything but that and it takes much more than some choice words from scripture without dealing with the process involved, the emotions involved, the life situations involved.    

I have also heard good meaning Christians and Friends throw out flippant verses, memes or soundbites with no context or explanation – often filler for neglecting the deeper work. They are like a comfort Band-aid in the moment, but the reality is that life will rip that band-aid off with no warning.

So if this is how we respond, we have missed an opportunity – we have missed how God handles those burdens through us. 

The author of the epistle to Galatians was having a hard time explaining this to the people. So, they wrote a letter to clarify, saying,

“Carry one another’s burdens, and when you do this, you are fulfilling the law of Christ.”

Wait a minute…I thought we could just send those off to Jesus and magically the burdens will be lifted, made lighter, made easier.  See what I mean. It seems like that, but there is more.

Sadly, too many people miss the fact that Jesus was clear that when he left this earth, we, his followers, were going to become his hands and feet, and even do greater things than he did. 

If we take this seriously, it is going to mean that we will need to become burden bearers. 

Now, before we go to much further, we better take a moment and find out what the “law of Christ” is, in which the author of Galatians is referring?

If you remember, Jesus summed up his Law this way – starting with the Great Shema in Deuteronomy 6 and then even adding his own additions…

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.”

When you begin to put this together, it is not hard to see why God would ask us to carry or bear the burdens of our neighbors.

By doing so, we are loving our neighbors as ourselves. We are becoming the incarnate Christ to those around us. We are picking up the mantle that Christ left us.

I don’t know about you, but when I am facing a burden, I want some tangible help, I want someone to sit with me and listen, to understand, to give advice at times, to just be present with me, to empathize, to even be willing to help me lighten or even carry that load.  

God is saying to each of us (and we Quakers know this),

“I am in you and it is your job as my church to carry one another’s burdens so that you will fulfill what is the essence of your very nature – LOVE”

I find it interesting, have you ever noticed that often when a neighbor or friend is burdened, you seem to be able to help them carry that burden easier than the burdens you are carrying yourself? 

Some of the most burdened people I know are also the people who are able to lift the burdens of those around them. 

I sense that is a part of our essence, the image of God within us. I believe humanity is divinely wired this way so we can take care of each other.

Folks, this shows how much we need one another.  That our lives are not just dependent on our relationship with God, but they also are dependent on our relationship with one another.  

Sadly, many of us, including myself, have too often woefully neglected the call to love our neighbor and carry their burden.  We have looked the other way, given excuses, even blamed them for their own burdens. That is not living by the Law of Love.

We may celebrate our independence in this country, but it is going to be our DEPENDENCE, love and willingness to carry one another’s burdens that is really going to bring us true freedom and hope.   

Folks, I will be the first to say that it is easier to seek comfort and lean on my own privilege, even point a finger at someone else instead of myself, and focus on my own needs before helping carry someone else’s burden.

But the reality is that for many of us, God has given us an abundance of resources to begin to lighten the loads of our neighbors.

I think it might be time to return to our Quaker Spices for a couple quick reminders. Our spices or testimonies speak directly to why we are called to carry one another’s burdens – let me point a little something out from each one:

Simplicity

Quakers have always felt they should live simply, tending to basic needs and avoiding luxuries. They were aware of the poverty around them, and that resources needed to be shared.

Peace and Nonviolence

Since most conflicts do not escalate to war...pursuit of peaceful approaches to conflict resolution in our personal lives and in the wider world is seen as a constant obligation.

Integrity and Truth

A manifestation of this testimony is often called “speaking truth to power.” Quakers are exhorted not to stand by, but to speak out about injustices they see.

Community

Quakers commit themselves to responding to the needs of others, and to the flourishing of local and global communities in all their diversity.

Equality

Also following from the principle that there is that of God in everyone is the notion that all people must be treated and cared for equally regardless of gender, ability, race, socio-economic status, sexuality and any number of other identifying characteristics for which people may be privileged or disadvantaged.

Stewardship

Stewardship is a not a choice it is a responsibility; it is what we owe the future. Three phrases used by Quakers to describe how we should take care of the Earth are “right sharing, right ordering and good stewardship”

Please remember these Spices or Quaker testimonies are the way we, Quakers, work for a connection between our inner and outer lives. They are the way Quakers take their relationship with the Divine Spirit and turn it into action.

They are also the foundation for why we, Friends, tangibly carry one another’s burdens and lighten each other’s load.

For now, let us enter into waiting worship and ponder or meditate on the following queries:

·      Who are the people in my life that help carry my burdens, how have I connected with and thanked them lately?

·      How well am I living out my call as a “burden bearer”? Is there someone in my life currently that I am neglecting being the incarnate Christ to in their daily struggle? 

·      Which of the S.P.I.C.E.S. challenge me the most and draw me to further exploration this week? 

2-1-26 - Why Truth Matters

Why Truth Matters

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

February 1, 2026

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  The scripture I have chosen to support my message is from Matthew 5:33-37 from The Message.

“And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.

Throughout this week, I have been personally reflecting, contemplating, and having a variety of deep conversations, but one subject keeps coming to the surface – that being TRUTH. 

It seems only appropriate that on Scout Sunday we would talk about Truth as it is a foundational tenant of both Boy and Girl Scouts. I personally remember in my scout days being Trustworthy was the first descriptor of a scout.  It meant that we were to be first and foremost people who tell the truth and keep promises, so that others could depend on us.  And the same is true for Quakers as we consider this part of our testimony of Integrity.    

Sadly, today, being trustworthy in this way, seems to have fallen into a gray area of interpretation and contention.  

Yet, being considered trustworthy is as old as time.

If you go all-the-way-back for a moment to the opening story of the Bible, you will find an interesting dialogue between God and Adam and Eve.  In that story God tells Adam and Eve they are free to eat from every tree in the Garden of Eden but one.

And in a rather odd pronouncement, God says that one tree is his alone. If they eat from this forbidden tree, they will die.

As with all good stories that are to teach a lesson, Adam and Eve determine they could not live with this God deciding the nature of what was good or bad for them.

No, they would rather choose good and bad for themselves. Those are often famous last words.

So, Adam and Eve become the first “truth spinners” – and the rest seems to be history (as they say).

The story from Genesis goes on to show how Adam and Eve began lying to themselves about the tree and about God.

They had to spin this by creating a new scenario – “God is holding out on us.”  And this thinking, quickly led to a downward spiral of lies which ultimately finds them naked and afraid. 

To think the very first story in the bible tells of a God actually searching for Adam and Eve to reconcile their broken relationship, to reclaim truth, and to bring peace again to their lives, is very interesting.

Sadly, this story of Adam and Eve, is a great metaphor for the “truth spinners” we have become and see so prevalent in our society, today.        

To bring this “truth spinning” to our current day, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun describes some of the modern ways we still do this, such as…

·      We pad expense accounts with rationalizations and denials.

·      We back out of commitments with blame and deceit.

·      Advertisers, corporations, government & non-governmental agencies, educational and religious institutions “spin” the truth - everything from ruining the environment to insider trading gets the spin.

It’s not hard to understand why people don’t know who or what to believe these days.

And today we have to add Artificial Intellegence (or AI), that can both help us in many ways and deceive us in very unhelpful ways.   

This is why the early Quakers were committed so strongly to telling the Truth and ultimately embracing a testimony of integrity. And folks, this was not just in their personal lives, but in all areas in which they engaged – from politics and legislation to civil liberties, to educational, economic, and workplace scenarios.

The Early Quakers believed truth telling or as they called it “plain speaking” did not,

·      exaggerate,

·      minimize,

·      deny,

·      rationalize or

·      manage the truth

Wow, good thing they did not have our 24hour news channels, social media outlets, and advertising industry back when they embraced this tenant of our faith.   

Friend Gray Cox in his Pendle Hill Pamphlet, Bearing Witness-Quaker Process and a Culture of Peace says the following:

...Quakers view truth as something that happens, it occurs...Truth is not a dead fact which is known: It is a living occurrence in which we participate....

The guiding concern of people bearing witness is to live rightly, in ways that are exemplary. Insofar as they have an end they aim at, it is perhaps most helpful to think of it as the aim of cultivating their souls and converting [or better transforming] others.....

Quakers are convinced that genuine leadings all proceed from a common ground, spring from a unity which we seek and find...

In a world, that currently lacks a great deal of truth and the desire to uphold it, we are seeing a rise in anxiety, frustration, and misinformation.  It no longer takes a turning on the news to get the facts straight. 

Now, we may spend an afternoon reading different perspectives and accounts, watching multiple recordings of events from personal cell phone cameras, social media influencers, and TV networks. We can literally turn the channel and watch the same story being told completely from a different perspective on a different channel.  And thus, we gravitate to what we like to hear and often make that our truth – when it may too be far from it. It is frustrating to say the least.  There was a time when Truth was the goal, but now there are many other goals. 

This makes us feel that we have no influence on this current state of trustworthiness, but honestly, that, too, is a lie we have told ourselves.

Just as the early Quakers, our voices and lives need to be heard and seen.  We need to be pronouncing truth with integrity, on a daily basis, not just when it seems acceptable – and in ALL areas of our lives.

As Cox said, we need to cultivate this in our own souls, first, and then allow it to convert (or transform) those around us, so that we can find a common ground to work from.

I wonder what would happen if as Quakers we re-committed ourselves during these troubling times to work on our deficiencies in the areas of “telling the Truth and integrity” (as our ancestors before us)?  

·      What if we refused to spin events and experiences in order to impress others?

·      What if we stopped exaggerating?

·      What if we stopped cheating on tests, taxes, insurance forms, etc…?

·      What if we kept promises and followed through?

·      What if we repented, and informed others of when we had lied to them?

·      What if we spoke truth in love?

·      What if we refused to flatter or dissemble?

·      What if we said what we meant and meant what we said?

·      What if we refused to slander another?

·      What if we refused to gossip or pass gossip and rumors?

It starts with us.  Before we point a finger at our neighbor, or that politician, or that relative, or whomever, we must first point the finger at ourselves and work on our own trustworthiness.  

Quakers have amazing ancestors who are exemplary examples of people who told the truth with plain speaking – and who used their lives and beliefs to change the world.

It is good to remember that our Quaker ancestors did not begin as world changers…they began as ordinary people like you and me. 

·      They had to look at their current condition and ask those questions of themselves. 

·      They had to start small in their own circles of influence, during difficult times, and find ways to stand firm in their beliefs. 

·      They had to count the cost of living and believing in a radical way from their peers.

And because they did…we are remembering their examples today. 

But remembering is different than following their example. 

Their example started somewhere…but too often we simply look to the final results of their lives, and see how big an impact they had, and leave it with their legacy. 

Just maybe we need to follow their process first, so we, too, can leave a legacy for our future generations.  

Did you know that before we were labeled as Quakers, we were actually called “Friends of Truth”?  Just maybe we need to embrace that name once again. 

Well, as I wrap up this message, I want to share a final Quaker story about truth, that often is taught to our older children. When I happened upon again this week, it took on a very different meaning. The story is about Allen Jay a 13-year-old boy at the time of this story (If the name sounds familiar, Allen would later became a prominent 19th-century American Quaker minister, educator, and administrator known for his work in reviving Southern Quakerism after the Civil War. He served as a key fundraiser for Earlham College, traveled extensively as a minister, and was considered one of the best-loved Quakers of his era.) His family was also part of the Underground Railroad. Remember this is a Quaker story for older children about telling the truth.

Allen Jay said that he and his father were outside working one day, when their neighbor, a doctor, who was an Abolitionist, came riding up to the front of the house.

The doctor said that an escaped slave was nearby, and that a group of slave catchers were looking for him. The doctor rode away, and Allen Jay’s father said,

“Allen, I’m going out back of the house. If anyone comes to the gate, you can hide them down in the corn field under the big walnut tree. But don’t tell me or anyone else.”

By and by the escaped slave came along, and Allen Jay hid him down in the cornfield. Back at the house, Allen Jay’s mother was fixing up some dinner in a basket. She said,

“Allen, if thee knows anybody who thee thinks is hungry, thee might take this basket to him.”

That afternoon, the slave catchers came riding up, and Allen Jay’s father went out to meet them. The slave catchers asked if he’d seen an escaping slave, and Allen Jay’s father truthfully said he hadn’t. Allen said, “I kept out of sight.”

Folks, there are Quakers, right now, in Minneapolis who are living out a very similar Truth. Someday we will tell their stories of Truth. May the Spirit be with them and grant them safety and peace, today.  

Now, this week I have prepared our queries in the form of a practice: 

I ask that we start by taking some time to assess our own personal honesty. As I have been speaking about the last couple weeks in numerous settings, to make real change, we must first make changes in our own hearts.

Think back over the past week, and ask yourself the following…

·      Where have I been tempted to stretch the truth, take advantage of a privilege, break a commitment or gossip? What does that say about me and my Truth?

·      Where is it hardest for me to tell the truth?

·      Finally, this week, I challenge you to practice one of these habits:

1.    not exaggerating,

2.    not gossiping, or

3.    not rationalizing.

Then ask yourself, what is it like for me to do this and how does it effect my truth?

1-25-26 - The Path of Peace

The Path of Peace

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

January 25, 2026

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning the scripture text that I have chosen to support my message is from Philemon 1:3-9a from the New Revised Standard Version.  It is a greeting, from Paul to his friend Philemon and speaks of the love which brings peace.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God always when I mention you in my prayers, because I hear of your love for all the saints and your faith toward the Lord Jesus. I pray that the partnership of your faith may become effective as you comprehend all the good that we share in Christ.  I have indeed received much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, my brother.

For this reason, though I am more than bold enough in Christ to command you to do the right thing, yet I would rather appeal to you on the basis of love.

With all that has transpired since the last time we gathered for worship, I have done a lot of reflecting, meditating, listening, and discerning. In the end, I found myself focusing a great deal this week on what it means to be a peacemaker in our world, today.

Making the choice not to go to Minneapolis for the March with the other clergy this week (which I wrote about in greater detail in our Friend to Friend newsletter) has caused me to ask some even deeper questions of how I am personally being a peacemaker in this place where I am called and set apart to minister here at Indianapolis First Friends.      

What has become increasingly apparent to me as I have watched the news, or read social media, even in conversations with you or in my networks as a pastor, is how little is being said about peace or peacemaking – and how little is being done to seek any semblance of peace in our world.

Sadly, much of what I see or hear being discussed is revenge, gossip, payback, or people looking for groups or individuals to blame, all while often disregarding with what others are saying or feeling.

Too often we are simply closing our ears and secluding ourselves from our neighbors. And our lack of listening and understanding is leading to violence in many and various ways.   

Author and pediatrician, Rachel Naomi Remen said it well, 

"Because we have stopped listening to each other we may even have forgotten how to listen, stopped learning how to recognize meaning and fill ourselves from the ordinary events of our lives".

I remember having some of these same thoughts one summer when we took our family to visit the Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument in southeast Montana. There we heard of a vision given to the First Nations Chief Sitting Bull that the white man who was taking their land had “no ears” to hear the desires of natives.

Sadly, I believe our country was founded by many who had “no ears” to hear  or “eyes” to see the bigger picture of life together with people different than themselves.  We too often closed our ears and moved forward – not listening, not waiting, not seeing, and not working out of love. And the sins of our past have now trickled down to our present time creating immense amounts of violence in our world, today.

We are constantly looking to pass the blame to specific groups of people – whether it is political parties or their candidates, religions, and yes cultures and races - because, let’s be honest, it is how we control or conquer for our own benefits.

Folks, this is just the opposite of being a peacemaker - actually when this happens peace is lost. 

When we don’t listen carefully,

when we don’t seek to really understand, and

when we quickly pass judgements,

We perpetuate violence in our world.  

Now, I have to be honest. For several years now, I have been doing some internal work in this area, personally.  I have been working hard to acknowledge, admit, and even apologize for the times I have not listened, when I too have had “no ears” for people, their views or ideas, and have created more conflict or even a communication barrier. 

Seeking peace and being a peacemaker has never been easy work, but it is a venture I believe our world, right now, is desperately craving and in need of.

We don’t need any more people with “no ears,” rather we are in need of peacemakers that will actually live out the change in their day to day lives!

I believe it is time for us to return to and embrace our Quaker distinctives - especially in the area of peacemaking.  

A few years ago, I had a conversation with a former colleague who had started attending another Friends Church here in Indiana (in a different Yearly Meeting).  As we talked, he shared of his frustrations with the meeting he attended. The biggest frustration being their lack of any visible “peace testimony.”  What really hit me though was when he said,

“It is like these Friends are ashamed of being part of a peace tradition and now more than ever they should be embracing it.” 

Honestly, the Quaker “Peace Testimony” has been a controversial part of who we are throughout our history.  I believe this is mainly due to it being much easier to close our ears and point a finger than it is to listen.

Just maybe, we don’t embrace a peace testimony because it is simply hard work. I am reminded of the words of Eleanor Roosevelt who said,

“It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”

Or Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh who said,

"To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women".

Our America Christian culture has over emphasized for way too long “Peace with God” only to sidestep or even avoid seeking peace with our neighbors, our families, and our colleagues.   

So, maybe as one who is called to this community to facilitate a better conversation, we should start this morning with a refresher course – and that means we will need to return to our own historic roots.

Let me read what it states in our Faith and Practice about our Foundations of Peace: 

FRIENDS emphasize the fact that the most effective way to end war is to remove its causes, such as misunderstanding, the desire for revenge, the spirit of aggression, and economic, racial, and territorial rivalries. This calls for the utmost endeavor to demonstrate the working power of fair dealing, universal equity, friendliness, and sympathy. The intricate network of modern life demands that Friends use every legitimate means to influence the attitudes of their government toward other nations, that all may conform to the highest standards of justice and good will as taught by Jesus. They should equip themselves with knowledge of the needs and opportunities for whatever ministries of Christian friendship exist in the world family of nations. They should cultivate the personal skills and abilities that will enable them to become interpreters of the Christian way of life which alone is the sure foundation for enduring peace.

Folks, this is our heritage, this is one of our distinctives, testimonies, or S.P.I.C.E.S., and this is not new for us as Quakers, but it may be new for some of us…or maybe because of the way of American Christianity it has become hard to understand – especially since many Christians in America have embraced, even welcomed a more violent spirit, tied to nationalism or a specific political party’s beliefs.

And that violent spirit is not just in military campaigns or politics, Quaker Parker Palmer shows us that this violence is permeating not only our churches, but our culture, our families, our own minds, he says,

“Violence is done when parents insult children, when teachers demean students, when supervisors treat employees as disposable means to economic ends, when physicians treat patients as objects, when people condemn gays and lesbians “in the name of God,” when racists live by the belief that people with a different skin color are less than human.  And just as physical violence may lead to bodily death, spiritual violence causes death in other guises – the death of a sense of self, of trust in others, of risk taking on behalf of creativity, of commitment to the common good.  If obituaries were written for deaths of this kind, every daily newspaper would be a tome.”

Folks, our voices for peace and nonviolence are desperately needed again in our violent world, today. This is supposed to be our nature as Quakers – but I kind of feel that we have lost our edge.  Maybe we are a bit out of shape or lacking discipline. Or maybe we have just gotten lazy and fat when it comes to peacemaking and taken it for granted.  

We should not be ashamed or reticent of our stickers that read “War is not the Answer” or signs that read “No matter where you are from, we are glad you are our neighbor” or hashtag (#) Love Thy Neighbor (No Exceptions).

In her intro to the book “Practicing Peace: A Devotional Walk Through of the Quaker Tradition” by Catherine Whitmire she writes,

Quakers have been practicing peace as a spiritual discipline since the 1650’s. Their well-worn path to peace begins in prayer and worship, leads to recognizing God in all people, includes practicing nonviolence, and endeavors to make love the guiding force in all they do. This path which is available to everyone, celebrates life’s highest joys and witnesses’ life’s deepest tragedies amidst the beauty, uncertainty, and violence surrounding us. While practicing peace is not always easy, it is a spiritual discipline that expands love, generates hope, and satisfies our soul’s deep longing for peace.

Did you hear that?  This path which is available to everyone, celebrates life’s highest joys and witnesses’ life’s deepest tragedies amidst the beauty, uncertainty, and violence surrounding us.

Folks, that is what I want for this community and for our world – and I hope that is the same for you this morning. Let’s again seek the path of peace together as a community of faith!

Back in October of 2001, Friends in the northwest participated in a Peace Conference held in Newberg, OR. They created a set of 7 queries to help us process how we can be better peacemakers in our world.  Let these be the queries on our mind this week and as we enter waiting worship this morning.

1.      Do you find ways to live peacefully in your daily relationships? Do you encourage others to do so by education and example?

2.      Do you recognize, express, and dwell in God as your ultimate source of security?

3.      In a spirit of repentance, confession, and forgiveness, are you willing to leave vengeance to God and pray for your enemies?

4.      Are you active in a community that supports one another in following God’s call to peace?

5.      Are you proactive in praying, speaking, and acting against the injustice that may bring on the occasion for terrorism and war?

6.      Do you find ways to learn about and understand the Friends peace testimony?

7.      Do you act in loving and respectful ways toward those who disagree with the Quaker peace testimony?