8-24-25 - Failure and a Paradigm of Growth

Failure and a Paradigm of Growth

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 24, 2025

Hebrews 12:1 (The Voice)

So, since we stand surrounded by all those who have gone before, an enormous cloud of witnesses, let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us.

Growing up, I was taught at a very early age, that our sin could be defined as “missing the mark” (Anyone hear that definition before?) which signifies failing to meet God’s standards of holiness and righteousness.  

I remember many illustrations of arrows not hitting their targets being presented to me during this era of my life. This also implied that if I missed the mark, I failed.  And if I found myself missing a lot, then I was categorized as a failure in God’s eyes and in my neighbors.  

That is a lot to take in and wrestle with when you are young, insecure, and finding yourself categorizing much of what you are doing, thinking, feeling as sin at this age.

About the same time as this theology was being engrained into my young mind, I was introduced to a very different “theologian” – this one did not talk much about God or dogma, but rather with paint brush in his hand he said, “We don’t make mistakes; we just have happy accidents.”  Yes, you know I am talking about Bob Ross.  My grandfather learned many of his artistic methods from Bob Ross, but also many of his personal “theologies,” like “happy little accidents” and he passed those on to me.  

This all reminds me of a time when I was asked by Sam’s 2nd grade teacher to come in on my day off to “live-paint” for his class.  They were studying Georgia O’Keefe and she asked if I would paint a large flower.  I was put in a room down the hallway from their class, and I spent the entire day painting this one giant painting. Every hour the children would be allowed to come and see my progress and ask me any questions they had.  In the room where I was painting, I had set up my easel and I had an enlarged photo of the iris I was painting.  The kids would come and look at the original and then look at my interpretation of it. 

At one point in the afternoon, I noticed a boy in the class who had not said much but was staring intently back and forth from painting to the photo and back.  He finally raised his hand and exclaimed, “I see a problem.”  I asked him to come up and show me.  He said, “You failed to make it look exactly like the photo” then pointed out a place where I had changed the painting slightly.  I removed a petal of the iris to give the painting a bit more depth and balance. He did not like this and said I had failed to make it look the same. 

I then had an interesting conversation with this set of very observant and creative 2nd graders.  I asked them if I really did fail? Some said I did, others said, no that is how you see it, and others, that is your interpretation of the flower.  They found other differences in the background and on the petals, and even in the colors as we discussed. 

What I reverted back to teaching in that moment was what I had learned from Bob Ross. He addressed failure by reframing it as an opportunity for growth and learning.  I then quoted them his most famous saying, “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents…As long as you’re learning, you’re not failing.”  Bob Ross encouraged his viewers to embrace these “accidents,” learn from them, and work with whatever happens on the canvas, transforming the fear of failure into a fun and positive experience.

Not long after this experience, I began to ponder how much we are taught about failure in life and the church, and how creativity seems to recategorize it and make it less about failure and more about opportunity.  There is a website I have really been draw to recently called, “Hevria.” 

The title of the page, Hevria, comes from combining two Hebrew words – hevre (group of friends) and bria (creation).  Thus, it is a home, a community, a space for creative Jewish people of the world.  I thought how it really should be Quaker, as it literally means a group of “Creative Friends.” But we will give this one to our Jewish Friends (for now).

As I was perusing this sight one day, I came across a very interesting post titled, “There is No Failure in Spiritual Creativity.”  That, in itself, caught my attention, but some of what this article proposed really spoke to what I am trying to convey this morning.  The article begins with this opening,

The blank screen. Staring at me right now.

Every letter I type, though, darkens it. Focuses it. Turns pure potential into startling limitation, but also into life.

That’s the scary part for so much of us.  Why destroy the white paper, the blank screen, the untouched canvas?  They’re so perfect, so beautiful in its blank potential. The black we throw on them could just as easily destroy them as bring them to life.

In fact, it’s in life that all the danger exists. God created the world multiple times, each time deciding to scrub it out and start over.  Only in this iteration deciding to stick with us, stick with it to the end.

If God can’t create without messing up, how can we hope to? 

That query stopped me in my tracks.

If God can’t create without messing up, how can we hope to? 

What? Did the Divine Creator mess up? 

Did they have happy little accidents? 

Did they fail? 

As I started to look at this more in depth, I began looking at the book of Genesis.  Adam was not even in the garden 24 hours before he failed, made a mistake, sinned – whatever you want to call it.  God resets creation and starts again outside the garden.  Then comes Cain killing Abel. and God again must reset things. And then there comes the time of Noah, and once again God is resetting their creation.  

Let’s return to that query – If God can’t create without messing up, how can we hope to?

Early Jews, Kabbalists, and Chassidim, all had a different way of viewing this.  They don’t see anything as a mistake when seen from God’s perspective. 

Everything that happens is part of a paradigm of growth or evolution, not of two-dimensions, failure-and-success or rising and falling.

In the article, Elad Nehorai says,

Some might say, the ones who point at us foolish believers, that it would be only a deranged God who would create a world that had to be scrubbed clean a few times. That the world is a sick place, that it was never worth creating, that anywhere that the Holocaust can happen, where there are starving people, rape, genocide, plagues, and so much more, God could not exist. God wouldn’t fail.

But interestingly he goes on…

We hear the same argument for why we shouldn’t create.  Often from the religious people themselves.  Often from ourselves.  Saying, “You put words on paper, you write on that screen, you paint on that canvas, and you’ll inevitably fail in some way.  Why create when you could let the perfect potential exist?  You’ll only hurt people.”

The angry people who point at the believers, the believers who point at the creators, they’re all speaking truth, but from the wrong paradigm.  They see every horrible thing, and every negative reality, through the paradigm of failure and success.

Stop for a moment here.  I sat with these thoughts for quite some time and continue to ponder them in light of what we have been talking about the last several weeks:

What paradigm are you and I looking through? 

What paradigm is our country, our state, our media, our neighbors and communities, our schools, even our Meeting looking through?

Are we looking at every horrible, negative thing and simply embracing a paradigm of failure and success?

When we embrace this paradigm we neglect our creative spirits- and that means we no longer connect or see from the Divine’s perspective.  Look at it this way, when we look from above, we do not see failure in such a “black and white” way.  Instead, we see growth, evolution, even wrestling and struggling to develop into something better. 

Yet from below, as people who are grounded on this earth, it can easily look horrible, negative, and full of failure – and that is often what we hear from each other.  

The reality is that when we tap into our creativity we are tapping into a place beyond space and time and beyond the questions of failure.  I think Bob Ross was tapping into this place a lot, and that is why we have embraced his legacy long after his death. 

Yet, Bob Ross is just one creative among many who learned to tap into this paradigm of growth, hope, and possibility. 

We could also add Fred Rogers, Anne Frank, Jim Henson, Julia Child, Steve Irwin, Bill Nye, Levar Burton, Maya Angelou...and the list could go on.

Their legacies and creative spirits continue on to this very day because, I believe, they tapped into a paradigm of growth, of positivity, of hope.  And even though each of them have written or shared their struggles with failure (go read their stories) they found a way to rise above it and find a more “Divine perspective.” This then gave space for creative change, opportunity to arise and address constructively the horrible aspects of life, to create a positive outlook, and garner hope for generations to come.  We continue to return to their wisdom because it seems different than what the world offers, today.  Now, there is a fundamental Quaker principle.

I wonder what it would be like for us at First Friends to seek a more “Divine Perspective” and to embrace a paradigm of growth in this current time? 

Michael Cohen (not that Michael Cohen) the Director of Innovation at Yeshiva University of Los Angeles Boys School who speaks often on creativity and failure gave this disclaimer to his students,

“You will fail. I failed…[but] when failure is part of the journey and not a destination, it can be used to give strength, to an even more incredible outcome than was previously possible.”

Isn’t that what we as Quakers are hoping to find in this world – a more incredible outcome than was previously possible?

When I was a kid one of my favorite Bible verses was our scripture for today...but I think it might need a different metaphor than running…maybe it could read this way…this is the Bob Henry Translation.

So, since we stand surrounded by all those who have gone before, an enormous cloud of witnesses, let us drop every extra weight, every “happy little accident” that clings to us and slackens our creativity, and let us see with a paradigm of growth the blank canvas that is set before us ready to accept our creative brush strokes.

Amen!

Now, as we enter a time of waiting worship, I want to have us return to some of those queries I have presented in this message.

·      What paradigm am I looking through? 

·      What paradigm is my country, state, media, neighbors and communities, schools, even our Meeting looking through?

·      Am I looking at every horrible, negative thing and simply embracing a paradigm of failure and success?

·      How might I embrace a paradigm of growth?

8-17-25 - Restoring Creativity

Restoring Creativity

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 17, 2025

Good morning Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  Today, we continue our series on creativity.  The scripture I have chosen is from Colossians 3:23 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

“Whatever task you must do, work as if your soul depends on it, as for the Lord and not for humans…”

I want to start this morning by reminding us that creativity is not categorized by being right or left brained, it is not just for artisans, musicians, or performers, rather it is part of every one of our lives – and I would go a step further and say that its part of “That of God” within each of us. 

When we think of the Divine, it is hard not to also think of the Creator. And when we meld those thoughts, we are able to acknowledge that creative spirit within us and tap into it for whatever task we set out to do - just as our scripture for today reads.

Since as Quakers we believe that our Meetings are not just physical buildings or institutions but are rather made of people. I wonder how often we forget that this creative spirit is always present right here within our Meeting. 

For example, I often wonder in our Yearly Meeting if one of the reasons that other Meetings have had to close their doors or be laid down is because they no longer are able or willing to tap into their creativity. 

Even here at First Friends, we can get into our ruts or find ourselves in times of plateau. Often those times are marked by getting into a routine or getting comfortable with what we are doing.

This comfort can enwrap us for a long time without us ever even noticing. At some point we come to realize not much has changed, not much new has happened, things have become stale or stagnant, this then leads to us becoming myopic and engaged in nasal gazing and the hording of our assets – and I am not just talking about our financial assets, but our individual creative assets as well.  Folks, many churches and meetings out there get stuck at this very place and I don’t want to see us end up there, as well.

That is why this morning, I want to talk about how we can restore our creativity before things get stagnant or overly comfortable.  And to do that I want to look at something I was taught in my own personal life and then translate that to our Meeting.

A couple years ago, I entered a very personal process of reflecting on my years in ministry.  The person that was helping facilitate this time encouraged me to tap my creativity in whatever manner I felt the most comfortable. At times that came out through drawing and painting, at other times through writing sermons, and even on occasion through some poetry. To get to that place of creative expression they suggested I take some time to first “restore my creativity.”

Prior to this, “restoring my creativity” in ministry meant getting more time in my studio, getting out my sketch book and drawing more consistently, taking a road trip to see new sights, journaling everything I was thinking about, feeling, or dreaming, and even reading books that would inspire me or give me new perspectives.  Much of what I thought was “restorative” was just doing more, engaging more, or almost forced creating.

My approach to “restoring my creativity” was all wrong.  What I have learned is that creativity is a muscle that needs training and care. By approaching it as I did, I found myself overwhelmed just trying to balance everything that I thought would restore me. Instead, it made me more anxious and even at times anything but creative.  I found that my mind was cluttered, and I was trying too hard. The joy I should have in creating became a task and at times I did not even want to engage it.

After 30 years in ministry, I notice this happening all too often in ministries and Meetings, as well. The culture around us has taught us that we should want instant outcomes, quick results, and we think that if we are just doing something, all will continue just as it has for many years. 

But then complacency, traditions that cannot change, sacred cows, and insider speak, all sets in, and the unique creativity of the group turns to fruitless meetings, arguing over semantics, and forgetting our testimonies as Quakers to speak to the condition of our current world. 

If we are going to survive and thrive as a meeting, we will regularly need to spend time “restoring our creativity.”  Just as I learned exploring my own personal creativity and ministry, I sense it would be good for us as a Meeting to do some work on this as well.  I want us to have longevity, and I want us to be creatively meeting the condition of our world in the present moment – not some golden era of First Friends, Quakers, or Christianity from the past.   

Now, more than ever, it is time to allow our creativity to flow from us out into our community, and ultimately into our world. Yet before we do that, we need to take some positive steps toward restoring our creativity. 

Already in this series, we have talked about the importance of vulnerability, our invitation to co-create with the Divine, allowing our creativity to be our form of prayer, and last week, the inspiration of nature. But this morning I want to step back and look at some practical steps that have helped me to “restore my creativity” and hopefully will help us as a community restore ours.  You might just find these uniquely Quaker even though they are adapted from Creative Boom. 

Let’s start with the first one:

PAUSE

Like I shared earlier, often our mind goes to “doing” to restore our creativity, but often that leads us into a rut.  We try doing the same things repeatedly, while trying to get the same results.

What we really need to do is stop or pause, to re-ground ourselves in the present moment.  This is a deeply Quaker idea.    

In our personal lives and in our Meeting’s life we can easily become so removed from the present moment that we no longer see the possibilities and opportunities that present themselves. We then neglect to see or recognize the creativity before us or within us.  Our present moment is our ground zero. 

In religious circles this is often hard, because we often revert to the past or tradition to shape us moving forward. Creativity sparks from the present moment.  Pausing allows us to review our thoughts, our unhealthy processing and habits, the things that are no longer working, and those that have become distractions from engaging our creativity. 

Every so often, all our committees, small groups, book groups, even our Meeting as a whole needs to take a moment to pause and reground itself in the present moment.  The pause allows queries to form that help us restore and reengage our creative spirit in this place.

This leads to…

DEFINE

Once we have paused, slowed down, even stopped and begun to ask some queries, we need to move to some specific queries that define our creative expression. 

·      What is it we want to create or achieve?

·      How can we work to best create or achieve it?

This may seem very simple, but often when creativity flees and we are in a rut or comfortable, we need to get back to the basics.  Each of our committees and groups should review in the present moment what it is that they want to achieve or create for our community or world? And how will they create or achieve that?  What gifts, assets, and creative gifts are around the room and can be utilized?  What does everyone bring to the table? 

And when we begin to do this, we then can use this information to define our future - instead of getting stuck in the past. We need to be asking - what kind of committee, group, meeting, people do want to be and what are the goals that we want to accomplish, now – in the present moment. This can act as a line to hold to when, inevitably, circumstances try to blow us off course.

As I thought through this personally, I was reminded that this is part of my creative process every time I begin a project – whether I am staring at a blank canvas, a garden plot, a room full of furniture, or writing a sermon.  

Then comes

BE MINDFUL

In our world today, mindfulness has almost become a buzz word and often is misunderstood.  As author and creative director Radim Malinic points out,

“A mindful approach doesn't mean sitting and meditating all the time or ideas always flowing freely. What it does mean is that you connect with what's actually happening around you and remain aware of how you're feeling and thinking, but without getting so knotted up in them that you can't see things clearly and objectively.”

To “be mindful” means we need to bring ourselves and our attention to the present moment as often as possible. It's about becoming aware of our thoughts and attitudes as they arise and not letting them carry us off down a rabbit hole or from actually utilizing the creative spirit within and around us.

Because we are such busy people, often what I see happen is that when we do not engage the creativity around and within us, we too easily drop our ideas, forget them, or revert to a default from the past.  Nothing new is created, no changes are made, and we no longer are working in the present moment. 

When we stay mindful, we stay focused, find clarity, and find again the creative spirit within us and those around us to create and achieve amazing things.

As Quakers we call have a name for this. We call it Minding the Light. Not only does Minding the Light refer to the practice of recognizing and engaging with the divine presence or inner light within oneself and others, but it also means to pay attention to how the Spirit is guiding individuals, groups, Meetings in their moral, spiritual, and creative journey. 

This leads to our final point…

MAKE POSITIVE CHANGE  

When you and I stay mindful, we are “making an investment” in each other, in our communities, and ultimately in the Divine to make positive change through our unique creative ways. On a side note, I believe this is the groundwork for building the Beloved Community which we are going to be exploring in light of our Testimonies starting this fall. 

Folks, to make positive change in our world, we first have to show up to make it possible – we have to bring our creative gifts, talents, and expressions to the table. That means we are going to need to speak up, share our gifts, be willing to allow our creativity to be utilized and seen. 

This is vital to remember because you and I love quick fixes and instant solutions, but we know too well, that there is seldom a quick fix or solution to our problems.  This is why we need everyone to bring their creativity to the table.  

When we have taken the time to restore our creativity, positive changes, opportunities, and possibilities arise! Especially if we are willing to cultivate optimal creative conditions to create within. 

I would love to know where you see optimal creative conditions being presented at First Friends, in your community, or in your own personal life, and where we or you might need to work on creating more of this space.

So, just to recap.  Restoring our creativity begins with pausing, then defining, then being mindful, and finally making positive change. 

As we enter a time of waiting worship this morning, I want us to start by taking that pause. Let’s attempt to re-ground ourselves in the present moment. You may need a couple queries to help as you pause.

·      Where might the Spirit be wanting to spark my creativity?

·      What thoughts, unhealthy processing and habits, things that are no longer working or have become distractions not allowing me to engage my creativity?

·      What will it take for me to stay focused on the present moment?

8-10-25 - The Inspiration of Nature

The Inspiration of Nature

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 10, 2025

Good Morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  For today’s message, I ask that you take your laptop, iPad, or phone and find a comfortable place somewhere outside.  At the meetinghouse today we are celebrating Sunday Funday and are working outside.  The text I have chosen for this morning is from Romans 1:20 from The Message version.  

By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. 

I don’t know how many times, I have been trying to come up with a solution to a problem, or trying to get a sermon started, or just wanting to deal with or work out something frustrating, and realized that what I really needed was to go take a walk around my neighborhood, head out into my back yard, or get in the car and head to a park or natural setting. This was a little easier in Oregon, but I have come to find some wonderful places in nature here in Indiana, as well.  Heading outside allows me to unwind. Drinking in the greenery, the blossoms, the birdsong, my thoughts begin to flow again. 

Over numerous years of research, I have found that many creative spirits, like you and me, have found inspiration, motivation, and rejuvenation in the natural world.  As both a person of words and a visual learner, one of the reasons I find clarity in nature is because it does not require words. As Friend and author Doug Gwyn says,

“One of our biggest difficulties, I think, is that we live so much in language and so much in a mediated world of electronic media and print media, all of which tends to distance us from our connection to the natural world.

Getting into that sense beyond language is not only healthy for personal spiritual renewal, but it’s also crucial to reconnecting with the natural world, which is a nonverbal world.”

Last year when Sue and I took two months to explore the lives of three extremely creative people, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Georgia O’Keefe and Walt Disney, we found what inspired, motivated, and rejuvenated them was nature. 

From standing on the banks of the creek on the farm in Marceline, Missouri where a young Walt Disney sat under his Dreaming Tree…

To having lunch on the porch of the Ghost Ranch outside of Sante Fe, New Mexico looking across the Red Hills at the mountain, Cerro Pedernal which appears in 28 of Georgia O’Keefe paintings and where her ashes are spread…

To feeling the cool wind on a summer day catching us off guard on the prairie in Desmet, South Dakota where Laura Ingalls Wilder both struggled to survive and found a simple beauty that gave context to her stories.

And that was not all, we followed their adventures through some of the most beautiful places in our country.  From the Grand Canyon, through the deserts, to the shores and woods of California, these three creative spirts continued to seek nature for continued motivation, inspiration, and rejuvenation. 

What I have found ironic is that most of what we knew about these three people were through books we read about them or by them. Not until going and experiencing the places of natural beauty ourselves, could we more fully understand or see. 

This was getting beyond language, beyond books and printed media, it was putting us in spaces where nature was working on our body, mind, spirit, and creativity in a way that our daily lives within buildings, offices, classrooms, and even the vehicles we drive could not accomplish. 

Sue and I walked away from this experience with a lot to process (I am still processing it, today).

We knew that growing up on farms, and engaging nature was part of the overall process for these three, but not quite like what we found when we put ourselves in the places that inspired them. 

This morning, we have chosen to put ourselves outside for worship.  We are intentionally engaging nature this morning.  And in many ways nature is calling upon us to engage.  I wonder what we might see differently, how we might play more freely, create more uniquely, and connect more deeply?  

Scientists have what they have labeled Attention Restoration Theory (or its acronym ART – which I think is ironic).  As I have been processing my own creative expressions and considering my experiences in nature, I have returned to Attention Restoration Theory on several occasions. 

Attention Restoration Theory is having something other than work to focus on which lets the brain recover from cognitively demanding tasks. 

Getting into nature is ideal for Attention Restoration as it triggers something known as “soft fascination.”  This means that the natural environment attracts your attention in a pleasant, gentle way that doesn’t demand your full or deep focus.  Unlike other restful activities like reading, watching TV, or playing a game on our phone, enjoying the breeze in a park or listening to the birds in our backyards doesn’t require your attention.

Actually, science suggests that you and I are instinctively drawn to other living things, whether that is plants, animals, landscapes, or friends and partners. 

Additionally, research shows that green spaces encourage a more meditative, open mindset, meaning that we may be primed to take notice and accept inspiration more readily while out in nature. 

This is why we worship outside at least once a year.  I wonder what would happen if our committees met outside on occasion, or small groups met in parks, or we took walks with each other to process the issues of our Meeting?  

This is not something new for us Spiritual beings.

In 1652, the founder of Quakerism, George Fox traveled from Yorkshire to Lancashire and felt led by the Spirit to climb Pendle Hill – a huge mass of green space. This natural space is so important to Fox’s greater vision. The Spirit led him there to better see what he was to do. 

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert for 40 days where upon his return had a clearer vision for his ministry. He also goes often throughout scripture to be alone in nature, a garden, on the water, among the olive groves. 

Buddha experienced enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. 

Even the story of Islam’s formation starts outside in a cave called Hira, where the Prophet Mohammad loved to hike, climb, and explore caves.

Almost ALL of the creation stories on this planet begin in a garden. 

And I could go on and on, but this morning, I want to offer us an opportunity to be present in nature and see where the Spirit nudges and guides us. 

I have prepared a short, guided meditation. It will obviously utilize words, but in the end, it will leave you silent in this beautiful space. 

To help us get into a place of connection with nature and the Spirit, I ask that you find a posture where you can feel comfortable, where you feel safe in the environment, you’re in. Some of you may want to lay down on the grass and others just sit comfortably in your chair. You are free to move to a different place than you are currently. Let’s find that position now. 

Next you can close your eyes for a few moments to center down – just let your attention settle and the busyness of your mind subside.

Take a moment to acknowledge your body, sensing your physical body touching the ground whether that is your entire body or just your feet. Feel your connection with the earth. Feel the support of the land, of the earth, under you. It’s always there: present, supportive, nourishing. You may want to take off your shoes and allow your feet to make a natural connection to the ground. 

And as you sense your breath, consider that with each inhale you’re taking in oxygen that’s released from leaves, plants, plankton. And each exhale is releasing carbon dioxide that’s reabsorbed by plant and tree life either nearby or far away. Sense how it’s just that simple breath that’s connecting you to this vast web of life.

Do you feel any sense of appreciation as you inhale, that the life—trees and grasses—sustains you, nourishes you?  And with the exhale, maybe there’s a sense of well-wishing, warmth, love, appreciation to all the photo-synthesizing life that allows you and all breathing beings to live, to survive.

Now, take a moment to reflect on a time when you were recently engaged by some experience in nature—something that moved you. Perhaps it was an encounter with an animal or bird. Perhaps it was a tree in a forest, or an ocean, a sunset, or the night sky. Recalling that experience and then extending your heart with a sense of warmth and kindness, love, well-wishing, toward whatever it was that moved you. Perhaps you’re radiating a sense of kindness, friendliness. Thank the Spirit for reminding you and showing you this.

And now, since we are sitting outside, you may choose to open your eyes and look around. Take in the trees or the grasses and the plants, or whatever part of the landscape draws you. And, again, extending a sense of warmth, friendliness, love. You can do that through silent phrases that express your heart’s wish for life:

May these grasses, may these trees, may all the beings that live here—animals, birds, insects—be healthy. May they be safe and protected.

Use whatever words come to you that express your heart’s wish for the life all around you. Say these words silently. Repeat them a few times. They can be inspired by whatever is around you, or whatever comes into your mind and heart. Consider whatever part of nature engages your spirit – to whatever you wish to extend this sense of warmth and loving-kindness.

May all the beings on this earth be safe and protected from harm. May all endangered species, and all species, be safe. May all creatures be happy and thrive. May all life be healthy, vital and express themselves creatively.

Now, notice the people sitting or lying around you. They too are part of creation, creatures who need safety and protection. Maybe they are a spouse, a family member, a loved one, a friend.  Consider how they have supported, cared for, and inspired you.  What have they taught you, created for you, and offered you?  What have you taught them, created for them, and offered them?  Extend to them a silent blessing of safety and protection and gratitude for having them in your life.

Now, sensing into the life around you, radiate a sense of warmth and kindness as you hold all these things in the Light and in silence. You may be sensing into how this experience of love is a process of giving and receiving. You may be feeling how loved or touched you are by the natural world, and how the heart naturally wants to respond with offering loving-kindness, well-wishing. You may sense a new gratitude and appreciation for those around you. And finally, you may desire to find a way to respond, to create something, to change something, to connect, or relate more deeply in this moment. Consider what that may be.  

And, of course, including oneself as part of the Earth’s moving surface, and including all peoples everywhere: those near and far, those you know and don’t know. May all these beings, or peoples, or creatures everywhere be safe from harm, be protected, live with health, with creativity, with happiness, with safety. Allow the heart to radiate in all directions—to all elements of this earth, to the life that lives here.

Finally, let’s enter sometime of silence. Take time to reflect on what you have experienced, and allow yourself to sense the Spirit’s guiding and nudging this morning…

8-3-25 - Praying by Creating

Praying by Creating

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 3, 2025

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. This week we continue to look at creativity and our scripture is another short one.  This time from 2 Timothy 1:7 from the Message version.

“God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.” 

One afternoon at my previous Meeting, I became engaged in a conversation with my secretary, Laurel. I had mentioned how amid all that was going on in the world, I was having a hard time focusing on prayer.

Actually, as the conversation went further, I vulnerably admitted that the idea of prayer was becoming more and more difficult to understand and engage. I shared with her that I had long moved pass asking God to find my keys or unjamming the traffic on my way across town, but (at that time) I was beginning to wrestle with whether God was as personal as we had always made him out to be. 

It is interesting here at First Friends, I find myself talking with people about prayer more than I am actually praying with them. There is a lot of skepticism and doubt around prayer.  For some prayer is simply no more than a magic spell, or the quarter to the vending-machine-God. Last week, someone from our meeting posted this quote by Ricky Gervais and said they were pondering it:

“Arrogance is asking a god who wouldn’t stop the holocaust to find your car keys.”   

That has me thinking. As well, some think prayer is not about what God does as much as it is about what we do, that our prayers are answered by our actual participation in them, not by a Divine proclamation.  

Do we believe that when we ask someone to send up a prayer or even (as we Quakers say)  “hold this in the Light” that a miraculous change is going to happen? 

It seems we believe it more fully when bad things are happening, when a friend is dying, or in a health emergency.  Just this week I sent out a prayer request for our son, Sam, who was diagnosed with Mono and has been to the hospital twice, doctor twice, and now to a specialist to get to the bottom of his situation. It has been a long week for Sue and I with Sue starting school on Thursday, two trips to IU to help Lewis move out of his apartment and to a storage unit, and a full week at First Friends. We needed others to hold Sam up, send healing energy, and remind us that there is a community that surrounds our family.  Something we easily forget and can take for granted. 

And then there is the political cover-all that we hear way too often after a natural disaster, school shooting, or racial violence – oh, you are in our “Thoughts and Prayers.”  A phrase that has completely lost its meaning in our day and age – as its pronouncement seems hollow and unauthentic.

Let me jump back to my conversation with Laurel. She and I would get into the weeds on the issue of prayer. She loved to delve deep, but in her often-quiet nature, she also listened deeply. I appreciated that about her. I also appreciated that Laurel was an artist. Her mind thought creatively.  Sometimes so out of the box that others would not catch on at first.  But as our conversation that day continued, never once did she push back on my struggle or argue a right way to pray. 

What I remember the most about this conversation was that she said, “Maybe you are doing it wrong for who you are.”  Now, I was taught as a child like many of you to pray before going to bed, pray before meals, pray before tests, pray for our leaders…and I could go on.  I remember the first prayer I ever learned:

Now, I lay me down to sleep. 

I pray the Lord my soul to keep. 

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.

And this I ask for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Looking back those are interesting words to say just before heading to sleep – I sense they have probably produced some nightmares over the years. 

And then there was the Lord’s Prayer which I had to memorize and say every Sunday in church.  Most prayers were wrote in my childhood, from a prayer book, liturgy, hymnal, or the Bible itself. 

I believe Laurel had a similar experience growing up, but on this day, she looked at me and said, “Have you ever heard of praying in color?”  She paused as I must have had a quizzical look on my face.  She then continued by saying, “You’re an artist, it seems you may find this helpful. There is a book about it.”  The next day she brought me a copy of “Praying in Color” by Sybil MacBeth and suggested we offer a class at our Meeting on this book. 

Now, please understand. Laurel knew I was struggling, she also knew I was an artist and that I found blending the two helpful.  The book was very simplistic but came right out and said, this book is for: 

·      Those who no longer could find the words to pray. 

·      For people who’s mind wondered when they prayed. 

·      For people who could not sit still. 

·      And finally, it was for people who needed a new way to pray. 

That described me well at this time and Laurel knew it. 

This simple book was the beginning of a creative exploration that led me down a path of much greater discovery. That book opened a new door to my creative expression and my relationship with the Divine.

For several years, I would listen to devotions, sermons, and  lectures, take notes through drawn pictures and when I was finished I would have a visual representation of both what the Spirit had been teaching me, but also the creative expressions I made. It gave me a tangible vision of what God was saying to me and how I interpreted that into visual art.  If you are familiar with Sketch Notes, this was Sketch Note praying. 

But I did not stop there.  Soon I noticed that when I would paint, sketch, garden, rearrange a room, even write an article or a sermon, I was finding it a prayerful creative expression and a connection with the Divine.  What I was beginning to realize was that any art form or creative expression could be a way to pray, reflect, and cultivate my relationship with the Divine. It did not have to be the stagnate forms and structures I had grown up with or even been taught.  

This is why last week I said that being creative is key for our spiritual formation and growth. And why I believe deep down it is key to our lives in the Beloved Community.  We each bring our own creative expression to the table, and we need each of those to make us complete.  But that also means we need to recognize, acknowledge and affirm and support all these creative expressions in our midst.  

A few years ago now, I took a spiritual retreat at the Fall Creek Abby.  It was a week-long retreat.  I went into it with the hopes of renewing my relationship with the Divine.  That in itself would seem to necessitate spending some time in prayer.  I noticed immediately that I was struggling with silencing my heart. I tried sitting in different chairs throughout the Abby, opening prayer books that I had brought, and nothing seemed to engage me. Finally, I laid down on my bed and fell into a deep sleep. My exhaustion was getting in the way of my connecting with the Divine.   

When I awoke, I was refreshed, and the creative juices were ready and flowing.  I began by doing some writing. Then some reading, and then some drawing. I took a walk through the neighborhood and studied the architecture, noticing the difference in the new and old construction, the gardens and landscaping.  What struck me the deepest was the gentrification of the neighborhood, and I could not help but think about all the people displaced and moved out of this area for more affluent people to move in.  

The next day, I attended my first art class at the Indy Art Center. This was part of my week-long retreat as I had learned that to make a connection with the Divine I had to engage my own creative process.  We were working in a variety of mediums starting on day one and I found myself having almost a transcendent moment in that class.  What I was learning was that the creative forces within me were opening me to the Spirit’s leading and my engagement with the Divine.  The rest of the week, I found myself opening up, hearing, and even the seeing that of God around me…and unbeknownst to me, the Spirit wanted to have a conversation with me about allowing myself to doubt and question.  Even the culminating piece of art I created to illustrate the week of wrestling, conversations, fist-shaking, and laughter with the Spirit looked much different than any of my other pieces.  Very little color or patterns or definition. Instead, this painting creatively expressed my soul’s struggle with the Divine. 

When I was a child, I often heard that prayer is communication with God – but that seemed kind of weird, since communication had a two-way element and most of my prayers were me talking or asking with no response from God. 

Ever since Laurel gave me that simple little book, I began looking at prayer in a completely different way.  What I was realizing was that we are each born with gifts and talents – what I will call creative expressions. We all bring something to the table that we can offer. And we need all these different expression in our faith community – otherwise things look rather uniform or cookie-cutter.  And that creative expression is probably the most likely way we are going to connect with that of God within us. Because it is uniquely you and me.  

I remember several months after Laurel gave me the book, I was sharing it with a friend who was a writer and a person whose creative expression was ideation. He always had creative ideas, but he needed others to help implement or see them to fruition.  I was telling him about my discovery of how prayer doesn’t have to be limited to words but can utilize our personal creative expressions.

He said, “That sounds like Flannery O’Connor.” My quizzical look let him continue. He then shared a quote of hers that has reshaped my idea of prayer to this day. 

“The artist prays by creating.” 

Since there is that of God in all of us, and since we are co-creators with the Divine, as I said last week, through the creative act, we channel the spark of imagination that resides in us all, honoring the Divine presence in our creativity and in the beauty, we share with one another.

Whether your creative expression takes the form of drawing or painting like me, or music like Eric, Jim, Lynda, Dawn, or poetry like the late Linda Lee, or card making like our friend Rachel, or planning Prayer Actions like Stuart, or making a meal for someone like Beth, or offering medical care like our Friend, Mary, or giving gifts like Rebecca, or the gift of laughter like our Friend, Mark, or writing his stories like Jeff…and I could go on and on…but this is how we connect in a much deeper way with the Divine within us all.

Actually, as I have said in the last couple of sermons, I believe everyone has this creative expression and whether they know it or not, it is their way to show us that of God within them, and when we engage that, we are being brought into a deeper relationship with the Divine in our midst and with that of God in each of us. 

As Quakers, I wonder how often we limit ourselves by confining the Spirit into specific spiritual practices.  The Spirit’s imagination, creativity, and beauty is reflected all around you and me, if we are willing to engage them, or maybe I should say, create them.

I want to close this morning with a poem from the late Maya Angelou who understood allowing her creative expression to become her way to connect with the Divine and others.  Obviously, her creative expression was writing. Just allow these words to speak to your soul and condition before we enter waiting worship.

            art is prayer

            make

            write to get closer to all

            to truth

            to spirit

            to connection with the great presence

            the great flow of life

            praying

            grateful

            find your peace in yourself

            with yourself

            it’s in a place within

            in god I live and breathe & have my being

            that is the place of peace

            love is closer than air

            louder than hearing

            sit in it    

 Now, as we enter waiting worship, let’s take a moment to ponder the following queries.

·      What are my struggles with prayer? 

·      Am I finding ways to connect that utilize my creative expressions?

·      Am I acknowledging all the gifts around me and seeing that of God in them?

·      What might embracing our creative expression at First Friends do for our impact in our community and world?

7-27-25 - An Invitation to Co-Create

An Invitation to Co-Create

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

July 27, 2025

1 Corinthians 12:7 (New Revised Standard Version)

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

One evening as Sue and I were shopping for some groceries at Target, I wandered off, as I often do, to the book section.  Lately, I have been annoyed by the limited selection of books Target now carries. I sense it reflects the “dumbing down” our world is experiencing, currently.

That night,  I stood looking at too many pop-psych-self-help books, a variety of over-priced Taylor Swift books, an assortment of trendy religious writers who fill books with a lot of fluff for a quick sale, some biographies of people not experienced enough to share their wisdom, and a plethora of empty journals almost crying out for creativity to return on their pages.

I stared for several minutes at the shelves, but nothing was drawing me in.  That is until I noticed a book lying on the bottom shelf. I think the once Barnes and Noble bookseller in me cannot resist an opportunity to re-shelve a book. As I picked it up, I noticed it had a different feel, and it had a simple circle on the front cover.  Now, that it was in my hand, I decided I would crack it open and randomly read the page that was presented to me. 

Here is what I read standing in the book section of Target that night:

“Creativity is not a rare ability. It is not difficult to access. Creativity is a fundamental aspect of being human. It’s our birthright. And it’s for all of us.

Creativity doesn’t exclusively relate to making art. We all engage in this act on a daily basis.

To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. It could be a conversation, the solution to a problem, a note to a friend, the rearrangement of furniture in a room, a new route home to avoid a traffic jam.

What you make doesn’t have to be witnessed, recorded, sold, or encased in glass for it to be a work of art. Through the ordinary state of being, we’re already creators in the most profound way, creating our experience of reality and composing the world we perceive.

In each moment, we are immersed in a field of undifferentiated matter from which our senses gather bits of information. The outside universe we perceive doesn’t exist as such. Through a series of electrical and chemical reactions, we generate a reality internally. We create forests and oceans, warmth and cold. We read words, hear voices, and form interpretations. Then, in an instant, we produce a response. All of this in a world of our own creation.

Regardless of whether or not we’re formally making art, we are all living as artists. We perceive, filter, and collect data, then curate an experience for ourselves and others based on this information set. Whether we do this consciously or unconsciously, by the mere fact of being alive, we are active participants in the ongoing process of creation.”

Wow…I found myself holding those words for quite some time.  I finally turned back to the cover to read the title, The Creative Act: A Way Of Being by Rick Rubin.  Yes, that is Rick Rubin the American record producer and co-founder of Def Jam Records. Rubin, a Caucasian man with a robust beard from Long Island, New York brought us LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Run DMC, and later a reflective and knocking on heaven’s door, Johnny Cash.  These, ironically, are some of the artists that shaped my youth. 

A few days after this experience, I was driving and listening to All Things Considered on NPR, and Rachel Martin was ironically interviewing Rick Rubin. The title of this interview was Rick Rubin on taking communion with Johnny Cash and not rushing creativity. If you have a chance, I highly recommend you listen to this 12-minute interview. It isn’t profound, but something about it spoke to me. Actually, if you go online and pull it up, Rachel Martin writes a preface to the interview where she says this,

I go through phases where I need to make stuff. Sometimes I need to sing. Sometimes I need to take a ceramics class or learn a song on the guitar or the piano. But after a while, the urgency fades and the art-making takes a back seat to the responsibilities and rhythms of my regular life.

But as I think about the next chapter of my life, I want to figure out a way to be more intentional about how I harness those creative bursts so they become less like flashes of inspiration and more like a steady light that may intensify or dim but never goes out.

Last week in my message, I mentioned that I believe we are all art-makers and even said we would probably explore this in greater detail.  I want to start with these two quotes I shared, but I want to present them to you in the form of some queries this morning to ponder. Ask yourself:

Do I believe I am an active participant in the ongoing process of creation?

How might my creativity become a steady light that may intensify or dim but never goes out?

When I was an Anglican Priest, I remember being at a gathering where a discussion was raised about the theological perspectives of Mary the mother of Jesus being a co-creator with God. I don’t know if the future Quaker in me was pushing back at the dogmatic debate or if I just wanted to find a way to relate, but as any artist does, I began to daydream about what it means to be a co-creator with the Divine.

Up until this point, I believed that God was the ultimate creator, because all of my Christian theology books highlighted God as the ultimate creator, the source of all creativity, beauty, and order in the universe. I don’t ever remember being included in this creative process. Actually, it was pretty much all God and I was simply enjoying his creations.

Yet, I started to question…weren’t humans made in God's Image (the Imago Dei)?  And didn’t the Bible say that we were endowed with a creative capacity that reflects God's own creative nature. 

By this point I was no longer thinking about Mary, but was deeply sensing a new spiritual epiphany, personally. I realized that all along the Spirit had been inviting me to be a co-creator with them. Something in the depths of my heart jumped at this thought. Today, I might say it made me quake deep down.     

I realized that this meant that “art-making” was an invitation for me and others to participate in God's ongoing creation in the world, reflecting God’s beauty and truth through our own unique expressions. 

I am pretty sure in my earlier years, this idea that I am a co-creator might have been considered heresy.  Actually, in early Quakerism, this would have probably been considered heresy, as well.

I try to explain this briefly in the Affirmation Classes I teach on Quaker Artists, Authors, and Musicians. Sadly, early Quakers did not embrace art. Early Quakers emphasized a life of simplicity, believing that excessive material possessions and frivolous ornamentation could distract from a deeper spiritual life. Early Friends valued a "useful education" that taught religious principles alongside practical skills. Art that was deemed solely for aesthetics, rather than serving a practical or spiritual purpose, was seen as "vain imaginings" and a distraction from attending to the "pure Life".  As well, early Friends believed that formal art, music, and elaborate rituals, could potentially hinder or replace a direct and unmediated connection with God's Spirit.

As a Quaker and artist, myself, I find it almost ironic that art draws me into a more simple and spiritual life and actually help me deeply connect with God’s Spirit in very personal and unique way.  

One of the Quaker artists we look at in our Affirmation Class is Fritz Eichenberg.  Fritz was an accomplished illustrator, arts educator, and wood engraver. I am sure you have seen his art and never even knew it.  When reading his words, I sense he too had a personal epiphany regarding being co-creators and Quakers.  He remarked,  

Can’t we see that the essence of art is a source of life renewing itself in every act of creation? The same should hold true for a spiritual movement such as the Society of Friends, which needs constant renewal. Without the arts we lose our youth—without our youth we lose our Society.

And this is where I had another epiphany of thought. Tom Rockwell, our Assistant Superintendent shared with us at Western Yearly Meeting Sessions that Quakerism is significantly in decline – I might say we are on hospice, maybe not here at First Friends, but definitely throughout the world. 

I have been wondering if this could be because we have not embraced this life renewing act of co-creation as Friends?  Meaning we have not found ways to EVOLVE as a Society of Friends – please understand I believe evolution is an act of creation – now, that is an entire sermon series in itself.

This is where I go back to what Rick Rubin said,

To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. It could be a conversation, the solution to a problem, a note to a friend, the rearrangement of furniture in a room, a new route home to avoid a traffic jam.

This is what Quakerism originally did for Religion – it had a new conversation, if found new solutions to the problems of this world, it rearranged the “furniture” of organized religion and had us sitting in different places.  No longer was the authority or knowledge coming from priests or leaders, now it was coming from within and our relationship with God was more personal than it had ever been.  For this illustration, the Quakers even learned how to avoid “traffic jams” by learning how to better communicate and speak truth to power.  These were all things before Margaret Fell and George Fox the religious world was missing. 

I have a feeling many Quakers today are still relying on the methods and procedures of our founding mothers and fathers.  Very little has changed…very little has been created…very few of us have embraced our “art-making” ability and our invitation to be co-creators with the Divine. 

Instead of embracing creativity, we have embraced another “c” word – comfortability (this may be another topic we will explore soon).

For a while during the American Civil Rights Movement, Quakers had a moment of creative revival.  But as I have studied it, I have come to believe it was more of a “creative burst” or “flash of inspiration” as Rachel Martin said in her introduction.  

What we need now, both in Quakerism and our world is that “steady light that may intensify or dim but never goes out” whereas Rick Rubin put it “we are active participants in the ongoing process of creation.”

When I first was introduced to Quakerism, my mentor was the Superintendent in my future Yearly Meeting.  He explained that what drew him to Quakerism was that their Faith and Practice was fluid – and what he meant by that was that it could be questioned, and wrestled with, even torn up or changed. What I believe he was really saying is that it could evolve or be re-created. 

If Friends are going to make a difference in this world, we are going to have to answer that invitation to co-creation with the Divine.  We are going to have to bring our gifts and talents – our art-making – from music to math, from basket weaving to barn building, from cross stitch to calculus, from deep sea diving to dental hygiene, from entertainment to ecology, from farming to freestyle skating…do you get my drift. 

And in our Quaker Meetings, we need to embrace this creativity as well.  What’s not working for us, and how might we create something new to replace it.  How might we like the early Quakers create something new that utilizes our gifts and does not get us stuck in our ways. 

Honestly, I don’t think our structure of committees and clerks are probably that creative anymore. There must be new life, new visions, new conversations, new answers to the problems we face, not a recurrence of the same old same old or simply getting people in line to our old ways. 

“We have always done it that way” is simply anti-creative – it doesn’t challenge us to try something new or find a better way.  One person said it is the first line of a dying institution.  And so are the phrases,

"It's always been done like this," or "We don't want to mess with what works," or “I am not sure that is the best for us at this time,” or “Let’s wait until next meeting to make this decision.”

I want to challenge every committee at First Friends to be creative, to think outside the box, to bring together the talents, gifts, and the many assets of this meeting to find a new way forward, new life, and a creative force that can give authentic hope and create positive change, and form a united community amidst our unstable world.  

Sure, we can keep the things that are working going, but let’s lay down those that don’t work anymore to make space for new ideas, new possibilities, and new conversations.

I want you, the people of First Friends to be coming to meetings with new possibilities, creative solutions, and a spirit of change – ready to evolve into something better than what we have right now.  And I want each person in this room to see themselves as active participants in the ongoing process of creation and together with this community be ready to find that steady Light that may intensify or dim but never goes out.

Will you join me in answering the invitation to become co-creators with the Divine?

Now, as we enter waiting worship, I ask that you ponder some or all of the queries I have presented in this message:

·      Do I believe I am an active participant in the ongoing process of creation?

·      How might my creativity become a steady light that may intensify or dim but never goes out?

·      Will you answer the invitation to become co-creators with the Divine?

7-20-25 - The Benefit of Vulnerability

The Benefit of Vulnerability
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Bob Henry
July 20, 2025

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  The scripture I have chosen for this morning is from 2 Corinthians 6:11-13 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections but only in yours. In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.

Let me start this message with a little explanation. I have been re-reading a book that at one time spoke to my condition for very different reasons than it does as I re-read it, today.

The book is about artmaking – which, whether you believe it or not, all of us are art makers in some way, shape, or form.  Now, don’t get too hung up on artmaking, because that is not specifically what we are talking about today, yet, I have a feeling it may be discussed in future sermons. 

For this morning, I want to talk about a subject that was raised in my heart while re-reading the book “Art and Fear” by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Actually, the book addresses it in multiple ways, but never really labels it. The subject that has arisen is:

VULNERABILITY.

Now, maybe the subject arose because Sue and I were visiting family last weekend that we had not seen for quite some time and on occasion we had to be very careful and even guarded with our conversations (especially about politics).  

Or maybe it was left-over from our recent Western Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions at Quaker Haven where when people began to become vulnerable and openly share out of the silence, the time was abruptly ended for us to go to lunch.

Or maybe, even though I was not with you, realizing that last Sunday was my 8th year anniversary at First Friends, and reminiscing that these past eight wonderful, thriving, and hopeful years of ministry have been made up of many moments of vulnerability. At the same time, there were many things in these past eight years that my family has dealt with that I have not been able to share with you for various reasons.

Let’s be honest, being vulnerable is very personal and at times can be unsafe or simply uncomfortable. Our vulnerability can lead to other people’s judgement, to misunderstandings, even to a gulf being wedged between people or Friends.

I remember a sermon I gave early on in my time here at First Friends where I vulnerably shared some of my own racist history.  I had several people from our meeting contact me afterwards and tell me that by sharing like this I was making others uncomfortable and that I might possibly even be calling individuals or our meeting racist. And I was told that If I was going to be successful around here that I should probably curb those thoughts or not share them.

Yet almost two years later, I ran into someone who had visited our Meeting on that very Sunday and heard that message. As we were talking, they mentioned how that sermon was so important to not only them, but to many others they shared it with. They said the vulnerability I showed opened doors for others to share, and they had been waiting to see that from the pulpit in a Friends Meeting for a long time.  

Folks, this is the fine line a pastor must balance when deciding to be vulnerable. I am just glad we have chosen to continue to grow, learn, and wrestle with racism and many other tough subjects at this Meeting. 

Now, on the other side of this, when our authentic self sees an opening and the risk of vulnerability is overcome, and when that vulnerability is met with care, concern, acceptance, and a listening ear, it leads to walls coming down, relationships being formed, and ultimately a better understanding and openness to learn.  

As Quakers, we should know that embracing authenticity before God and others through vulnerability creates intimacy with the Divine and connection with others in a bond of peace. 

But way too often, we, Friends embrace our silence, and like turtles revert into our shells where it seems safer or easier.

Let’s get real, most of us prefer hiding the truth about ourselves from others, and even the Divine, often this is our attempt to control outcomes and sadly manipulate people.

At other times, we despair of our own brokenness to the extent we feel unworthy of connection, and we find ways to turn people away from being able to speak into our lives.

I remember making quick friends with a member of my doctoral cohort in Oregon. Soon I realized that he had an ability to see through my own struggles and call them out. Actually, he had the ability to do this with almost anyone in the room. I would say it was a gift or maybe a curse. He often made us feel uncomfortable. His vulnerability made us almost shudder.  But many of us just wanted him out of the room at times so it would be a bit easier. To this day, this person’s vulnerability and the words they spoke into my life during this time were life altering and opened new opportunities for connection and freedom to be more of myself.  

This resulting freedom and healing not only opens a pathway to greater connection with others but helps us know ourselves in a more authentic way.

Brene’ Brown, in her work, Daring Greatly, explains: 

“Vulnerability is the core of all emotions and feelings. Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or deeper or more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.”

As Quakers, we might say that vulnerability invites us into the Light, to a place of Truth, with a willingness to be seen and known. While we often think hiding behind anonymity or a people-pleasing mask presents a more acceptable persona, we sacrifice true connection, and worse, we lose our real selves.

As a pastor in Oregon, I embraced a people-pleasing mask with the Friends on both sides of the same sex marriage debate – all while not divulging what I believed on the subject. Part of it was I had not had the time to fully process my beliefs about the issues before being demanded which side I was going to stand on. Also, depending on what I said or even inferred I was being threatened constantly to be removed from ministry if it was the wrong side. Yet during this time, God, in his special way, brought vulnerable and authentic people of the Queer Community into both Sue and my personal and Meeting’s lives. Through their vulnerability, they showed us how to remove our masks. They even invited us to see the Light through their vulnerability. And we soon were willing to sacrifice for them and make deeper connections, because it was evident that this is what God was asking of us.    

One thing that becomes painfully clear on our journeys is all our carefully constructed defense and protection mechanisms designed to keep others from seeing our authentic selves only stifles our spiritual formation and growth. This can lead us to become mad or frustrated with God, sometimes shaking a fist at the Divine, and struggling to believe in love and the good in people, especially those who say they believe this but do not act in this manner.

As well, by bringing a false self to our neighbors, and especially the Divine, results in our inability to truly know them, experience their love, and become the persons we were created to be.

On the other hand, when we lean into this vulnerability with our neighbor and the Divine, the process opens our hearts to receive healing, love, and a deeper intimacy in our world.  Something that really looks like what it means to be a Quaker and even a Christian.

The process of being real with the Divine, ourselves, and others, even though painful, results in humility born of a fuller understanding of grace, which inspires vulnerability, compassion, and ultimately spiritual growth.

Because at its essence, vulnerability is about honesty – owning our stories both before others and God. But sadly, not everyone likes us to be honest – and let’s be frank, at times we don’t like it either.

This is why when people are vulnerable, they are taking a risk at being honestly with who they are, and often this is misunderstood because we are not expecting this coming from this person.  It may seem too frank or too honest and often we want to make excuses for them or soften it up, but vulnerability is often frank, raw, and in-process.

As our scriptures say for this morning,

We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you.  There is no restriction in our affections but only in yours. In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.

Sometimes we need to open our hearts wide to hear the frankness and vulnerability of our neighbors. 

Also, when you and I honestly and authentically come before the Divine or our neighbors without pretense, we can begin the process of finding peace. Peace in our own hearts and peace with our neighbors. Peace becomes a tremendous gift, as we no longer feel the need to strive or earn anyone’s love or acceptance.  

Someone asked me once in Oregon why I was preaching so much on Loving God and Loving our Neighbors.  Instead of answering him, I took Jesus’ approach. I asked him a question. “What would you like me to be preaching about instead?”  He said, “You should be preaching against sin.”  And my response was simple, “Tell me the sin you struggle with the most, and I will start there.”  The conversation came to an abrupt end, go figure.  Folks, that could have been a real moment of vulnerability, compassion, spiritual growth – and it could have led to peace both for him and our faith community.   

At first, vulnerability feels hard, but what feels like weakness in admitting our struggles is actually being transformed into strength, confidence, and acceptance.  That moment of vulnerability can be a catalyst for change, for discovery, for real peace.  

I had a student once who tried to question me about something that I had said in a lecture, and I realized he was trying to back me into a corner. Instead of entering the argument he wanted, I asked to have lunch and hear his story. I sat at lunch as he vulnerably poured out his life struggles.  At one point he said, “Why did you do this to me?”  A bit confused at first, I realized he had shared deeply and vulnerably, and I had not said a word. So, I simply asked what he was looking for, and instead of responding he broke down crying.

I realized he just needed to be heard, accepted just as he was, and allowed to show he had weaknesses and struggles. After that lunch, I watched him gain more and more confidence and I believe he found his true voice. His vulnerability over that lunch became a catalyst for his own change.

What this says to me is that each of us WANTS to be heard – actually, we NEED to be heard.

So, how might you and I begin this journey toward vulnerability, strength, confidence, and acceptance?  I leave you with one final thought – it again is from Brene Brown from her book, The Gifts of Imperfection. She says,

“We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.

Love is not something we give or get; it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them – we can only love others as much as we love ourselves.

Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal, and the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows. Love can only survive these injuries if they are acknowledged, healed and rare.”

Folks, will you join me in attempting to be more vulnerable this week?  Will you join me in allowing our authentic selves to emerge?  And then, let’s watch how our personal lives, our communities, and even our world begin to change for the better.

Now as we enter a time of waiting worship, let us take a moment to allow the Spirit to guide and nudge us toward more vulnerability.  To help us center down, here are some queries to ponder:

·      Where do I struggle to be vulnerable in my life? What fears do I have?

·      What defense and protection mechanisms have I created to keep others from seeing my authentic self?

·      How might embracing my authenticity before God and others through vulnerability, create intimacy with the Divine and connection with others in the bond of peace? 

7-13-25 - What, Me Worry? God Will Provide - Beth Henricks

What, Me Worry?  God Will Provide
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Beth Henricks
July 13, 2025

Welcome to our First Friends virtual service this week.  Bob is traveling and I am sharing the message with you today.

We had such a great time at VBS this past week as you saw in the video.  We spent our week talking about how Jesus gives us hope, gives us courage, and encourages us to trust God and not to worry.  I’d like to focus on this idea of worry and is it possible at this time in our lives to not worry.

Our scripture reading is Matthew 6:25-34 NRSV version. 

Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,  or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to your span of life?[   And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the gentiles who seek all these things, and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God[c] and his[d] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

As I talk to people, I hear so much worry and anxiety.  We  bring our personal worries  about our health, our kids, jobs, financial stability, struggling friends, and so many other concerns on our heart.  We also have worry and  anxiety about the broader issues within our communities, our country and our world.  Bombings, conflicts, tearing apart of families, affordability, housing and so many other things.  It feels at times that we can be overwhelmed by this worry which will weigh on us physically, mentally and emotionally  in our daily lives.

Anxiety can consume our attention and our energy.  We live in a hyperconnected world where we can be connected to everyone else’s anxieties.  With social media, we live in our anxieties and the anxieties of everyone we are connected with online. 

And yet Jesus talks about a different view of life and our anxiety.  Jesus is not suggesting that we don’t have real concerns about aspects of our lives in terms of finances, family, health, jobs, future etc.  And Jesus is not saying that our concerns about our communities, our country and our world should be swept away into a utopian sense that everything will be ok.  Things may fall apart, we may get sick, have children that deeply struggle, lose jobs, have concerns over finances and paying bills and so much more.  Rather Jesus is asking us to step into a place beyond our concerns of food, drink and clothing.  While these are legitimate pegs of survival that we must deal with, Jesus invites us to a deeper place of trust in God that goes far beyond our immediate needs, concerns and worries. 

Jesus starts this passage of Scripture with therefore, which means the prior verses are important.  Just prior to this section Jesus says “no one can serve two masters; for a slave will hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth.

Jesus seems pretty direct in this prior passage and this Scripture encourages and admonishes us to serve God, to trust God, to believe that God will take care of us and not to serve wealth.  Is that the opposite of worrying about money in our lives?

Jesus talks so much about kingdoms.  The old kingdoms described in the Old Testament are kingdoms of anxiety.  The kingdoms of this world today breed in fear and anxiety to make us afraid and willing to abandon the idea of a new kingdom that Jesus talked about so much in the Gospels.  Anxiety is the thriving pulse of an old realm because it is built on the desperate search for that which only God can give. 

I am reflecting on the specifics of the verses that we just  read.  The birds do not sow or reap or stay in barns.  They are never idle and are constantly pecking at this or that and constantly trying to gather food.  They are always working.  And their desire to find food is paramount to their survival.  And even in difficult circumstances the food is found.  Does that provide solace to us believing that God will provide? 

We are often preoccupied with the basic question: Do I have enough?  And if not, how can I get more, so I will have enough.  Is that the right question to be asking?  Sometimes we have enough for today, but we want more.  And our worry and lack of trust in God are stumbling blocks to a deeper sense of peace within God’s being.

We worry about so many things we can’t control.  They consume us at times and yet if we can stop pecking away and playing a movie reel in our heads that may or may not come to reality, we can breathe, let go and allow our souls to rest in the arms of God.

I was diagnosed with uterine cancer 20 years ago.  It was a shock and stunned me when my doctor called to share this information.  I had a business trip to California the following week and still in denial I said I needed to go on that weeklong trip.  My doctor said you will cancel that trip and you will need to have a complete hysterectomy next week.  My life was turned upside down and that information sent me into a spin of worry and anxiety.  And then I started receiving so many calls and cards and notes from people that expressed their love for me in profound ways that they never would have shared if I wasn’t facing the worry of cancer.  I entered this situation feeling more loved than I had ever felt in my life.    My worry and anxiety turned into trust in God and knew that healing comes in many forms. 

I am thankful for the 20 years I have had cancer free.  I also know that the gratitude of my family and friends and strangers changed my outcome.  

My son who is now a new dad and almost six years in sobriety talked to me about the answer to worry being a gratitude list.  When we are at our lowest point of worry and anxiety, we need to list out those things we are grateful for to bring us back into this place of peace in God’s embrace.

As we enter our waiting worship I offer the following queries:

What worries are weighing us down today?

What do I need to release to God?

What is on my gratitude list today?

7-6-25 - True North

True North
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Bob Henry
July 6, 2025

Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  Today, at the Meetinghouse we are celebrating VBS Kick Off Sunday. Our theme for VBS this year is “True North,” and I would like to use that as our focus for this message this morning.  The text I chose is Isaiah 30:21 from The Message.

Your own ears will hear him. Right down the road. The road to your right. Or the road to your left. He's saying, 'This is the road. Walk on it.'

I remember when I was young wanting a compass. Whenever we visited my grandparents house, I was always drawn to their desk that held both a prism and a compass.  Clearly this was before smart devices and pocket video games stole the attention of our young people.

As well, I became even more interested as a child, as my cub scout leader taught a lesson on learning directions without using a map. This seemed to pique my interest. It almost seems crazy, today, since most of us have a compass app that comes on our smart phones. 

Back then, there was something about the compass that intrigued me.  Somehow, it was always finding a way to point to True North. My young mind wanted to know how that worked. 

Later my cub scout leader would teach us that a compass works by utilizing the Earth's magnetic field. The only place I had heard about a magnetic field at that time was in Star Wars – again…totally cool.    

My scout leader taught us that a magnetized needle, free to rotate, aligns itself with the magnetic field lines, pointing towards the Earth's magnetic North Pole. This alignment provides a consistent reference point for determining direction, allowing users to navigate.

At one of our den meetings, our cub scout troop made our own compasses.  My scout leader had a very large magnet, and he had purchased needles for us to magnetize and then try and use in our own small compasses.

 After making them, we put then to work guiding us through the streets of our town. I remember mine being a bit off and not fully aligning with Truth North.  Actually, it aligned more to a little northwest instead.  But for our purposes in that lesson, it did the trick. 

Just a few weeks ago when we were in the city of Savannah, Georgia, I got turned around and confused as to which way was North.  I had a map but noticed that it did not have any North, South, or East, West directions on it.  So, I had to use the direction of the Savannah River to get me back to True North. I didn’t even use the smart phone app in my pocket. 

One morning on our recent cruise, I woke up and walked out on our verandah.  As I looked down at the lower deck, I saw a bird sitting their looking a bit confused.  I could almost see it questioning, what was this giant land mass I landed on, and why is it moving at sea?  It sat for several moments before finally resetting itself and flying away. 

Most researchers agree that birds have an inner compass that helps direct their flights.  Taking their readings from the earth’s magnetic fields, the birds instinctively fly in the right direction.  (That is until something changes or throws them off like a big cruise ship in the water). 

As if that is not already fascinating, it has been further discovered that many night flying birds also calibrate their inner compasses by using polarized sunlight at dawn and dusk.  They do this every day before taking off in flight. 

Well, I think we can learn a lesson or two from these birds. 

Folks, you and I are on migratory journeys as well – from hostility to hospitality, from challenges to finding peace, from the darkness of this world to the light that is within and around each of us, from our selfish ways to embracing a beloved community. 

To help on this journey I believe the Divine has also given us an inner compass – as Quakers we call it our Inner Light or Inner Christ – that of God within each of us. 

I would like to take some time this morning and delve a little deeper in what this inner compass or inner light means. 

For Quakers or Friends, we say that the essential spiritual experience is that of a direct, unmediated relationship with the Divine.

Friends have used many terms or phrases to refer to the inner certainty of our faith: the Light Within, the Inner Light, the Christ Within, the Inward Teacher, the Divine Presence, Spirit, the Great Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, that of God in every person, the Seed, and many more. I might add our inner compass this morning. 

In his journal, George Fox referred to “that Inward Light, Spirit, and Grace by which all might know their salvation” and to “that Divine Spirit which would lead them into all truth.”  This inner compass is leading us to ALL Truth.  Truth is also a name for the Divine. I think if we really think about it. Our inner compasses are leading us to see the Divine in each other, in our world, in nature, and so much more.  Truth is our True North.  

Today, Friends continue to add other descriptors that help guide them out of a sense of ongoing revelation.

For some Friends, “spiritual energy” best describes their personal experience of that which enlivens and empowers them in seeking this Truth for themselves and in community.

In contrast with early Friends, not all Friends today consider themselves to be Christians or even theists. This is evident right here at First Friends.  But that does not mean that we are all not seeking True North or All Truth.

You and I come from very diverse religious backgrounds and experiences and apply our different perspectives as we encounter the Light Within or inner compass.

Regardless of our journeys that bring us to explore the Quaker way, the invitation to enter an unmediated, inward relationship with the Divine continues to be at the heart of the Quaker experience. 

I remember while in my doctoral work, being nudged by the spirit in this new Quaker Way.  For me there was a sense of my inner compass having to be freed to rotate and find again my true north.  Often our religious systems, upbringing, and definitely fears hold our inner compasses hostage and do not let them rotate freely and find true north.  

When I allowed myself to ask questions, face my fears, and break those systems that were keeping me from the Truth, I once again found my True North.    

When you and I embrace the Quaker Way, we encounter the Spirit, active in the world, and providing guidance for everyday living.

The Spirit is our inner compass.

The reality of this spiritual relationship within each of us brings us together here at First Friends as a community of faith or what some would call a Beloved Community. We Quakers understand that faithfulness to Spirit can produce a spiritual energy within our faith community that encourages you and me to support each other within our community, and most of all, to live in harmony with the Divine.  

TOGETHER we connect to our True North.

We also understand that the experience of the Divine continues to unfold and that the record of the Divine’s presence in human lives continues to be written.

Friends find that our Light Within (or inner compass, Spirit):

• Accompanies, comforts and loves us as we seek Divine Truth;

• Reveals who we are, including what we would prefer not to see about ourselves, and leads us out of spiritual darkness or dryness;

• Illuminates, inspires and transforms us;

• Shows us how to live with love, compassion and justice towards others;

• Gives us energy and power to change ourselves and the world in small ways and large;

• Leads us to the right decisions in our meetings for worship with attention to business;

• Provides ongoing revelation of God’s truth.

To think we have this inner compass within us, and available to us right now!

Lastly, in our scripture text for this morning, Isaiah 30:21, reads:

Your own ears will hear him. Right down the road. The road to your right. Or the road to your left. He's saying, “This is the road. Walk on it.” 

This verse speaks to the idea of this divine guidance we have been talking about, and it highlights the assurance that the Divine’s guidance is available regardless of the direction one is considering, providing clarity even in complex situations.

I think because I was told so often growing up that the path to Truth or God was a narrow road, I began to think too narrow about much of my spirituality. 

Our inner compass or Spirit, that Light Within us, is with us on any path that we are on.  It accompanies, comforts, loves, reveals, illuminates, inspires, transforms, gives, leads, and is available to provide guidance into all Truth no matter the path we choose.

Folks, this is aligning to our True North. 

I look forward to our children being introduced to some of the basic of divine guidance this week at VBS and for you and I to continue to explore them in our personal and communal lives here at First Friends. 

Now, as we take a moment to center down and enter a time of waiting worship, I have provided some queries for us to ponder this morning.

1.      What migratory journey am I on, currently?

2.      What brought me to explore the Quaker Way? What have I learned?

3.      Where is my “inner compass” guiding me? Do I recognize my True North?

6-29-25 - Exhausted…Learn the Unforced Rhythms of Grace

Exhausted…Learn the Unforced Rhythms of Grace
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Bob Henry
June 29, 2025

Good morning Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. This morning the text I have chosen is from Matthew 11:28-30 from The Message version.  

Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

Before I start my message, I want to thank Beth Henricks and Chris Edwards for filling in for me the last two Sundays and bringing excellent messages while Sue and I celebrated our 30th Anniversary.  It is a blessing to be surrounded by such talented people. Thank you.

One thing that was extremely apparent on our time away this past week was the toll that exhaustion is taking on people in our world, whether that is from all that is going on with the possibility of war or simply life’s demanding pace. It amazes me how many people are literally crying out for rest but cannot find the time to make it a priority. Even people on vacation seem to be struggling to rest.  We almost need time to transition to restful times because we no longer know or remember how to rest.    

It is clear from our scriptures this morning that the Divine is concerned about rest.  Jim Smith author of The Good and Beautiful God says, “The number one enemy to our spiritual formation is exhaustion.”  As one who has studied spiritual formation from a variety of perspectives, that bold proclamation got my attention. 

Exhaustion is an enemy to our soul and to our holistic well-being.   

Let that sink in for a moment.

I think we have to start by admitting it. We have become an exhausted people, and we live in exhausting times.

I hear it all too often – maybe even you have said something like this…

“I am exhausted by listening to the news.” 

“I am exhausted by politics.”

“I am exhausted by our President.”  

“I am exhausted by this heat (or any weather that is not moderate or what we want.”

“I am exhausted by my kids.” 

“I am exhausted by my work.”

“I am exhausted by other people’s issues and problems.”

“I am exhausted by my relatives.”

“I am exhausted by my medical condition.”

And the list goes on. 

How would you fill in the blank this morning?

I am exhausted by ______________.

On our anniversary cruise last week, we were seated for dinner with two other couples a bit older than us.  Two were retired teachers who ended up having to return to teaching because of the lack of social security and retirement offered them by their school district in Illinois.  The other couple was a deputy police chief from Asheville, North Carolina, who retired after the Pandemic and is now the police chief of a local college, and his wife is the lead social worker in Asheville who has been dealing with the devastation of their town after hurricane Helen made landfall in September. 

Talk about a table full of exhaustion. This table could be the poster child for needing some rest and relaxation.  No wonder we found ourselves all on a boat adrift in the middle of the Atlantic ocean – we were seeking rest and renewal from our daily grinds.  

It is proven that those in the helping professions suffer from exhaustion and lack of rest, and this exhaustion has grown by epic proportions with the recent Pandemic, natural disasters, and the political decisions which are removing benefits and dignity for these helpers.    

And then we add technology and social media to all of this, and the exhaustion expands to enormous levels.  Today, we must set limits for screen time, reminders to exercise, ticklers that tell us we need interaction with human people to avoid isolation, and some are now suggesting we schedule naps into our workday. 

This is not something new for many cultures outside of the US.  People head home from work in Spain for a siesta. And in Italy they take a riposo. And in China workers break after lunch and put their heads on their desks for an hour-long nap (it is a protected right by their constitution).  Some major corporations in America have realized the benefit and have added Nap Rooms to their office space. 

I recently saw a portable pod that was noise canceling, so you could go in and rest from the noise of the world or scream at the top of your lungs.

Sadly, I don’t think the need for rest is something new in our world, and it is evident from a simple glance at our bibles. Even people 2000+ years ago dealt with the lack of rest. 

Actually, as I did my research for this sermon, I couldn’t believe how many times the bible talks about people needing rest.

Even when drafting the original 10 Commandments – rest was a key component. 

“Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work.” (Exodus 20:9-10).

When I was in my doctoral work, I was challenged to find what our Jewish sisters and brothers considered sabbath rest.  Sabbath comes from the word shavat which means to “cease” or “desist.”  The main observance of shavat was from sunset on Friday to nightfall of the following day.

Now, Quakers consider all days equal which can mess with this needed opportunity to rest.  Thus, I like to consider rest not about a day but about a discipline.     

Richella Parham, in an article posted by Renovaré titled, “The Spiritual Discipline of Rest” points out,

“…the way the human body functions has not changed much in the years since God commanded his people to observe a day of rest. The amount of time generally set aside for sleep has shrunk, but the need for it has not. In these days filled with artificial light and late-night opportunities for work and play, we must now be very purposeful in the pursuit of physical rest. 

I think we often fail to consider that we must choose to rest or else we’re likely to have rest forced upon us when we are exhausted to the point of physical, mental, or emotional distress.”

Ask yourself this morning,

Have I ever found myself forced to my bed after pushing myself too hard?

I had a friend once who would say, “My getting sick is God’s way of slowing me down.”  I don’t think we need to blame this on God, but rather become more aware of our life, our body’s needs, and about how much we are able or trying to juggle in this life.  

This is when looking to Jesus as an example may help, and there are plenty of places in scripture that show us his discipline of rest. Often, we get so caught up with other aspects of the stories that we quickly read over or completely miss the more human aspects to which we can relate that often speak directly to this need for down time. For example:

Mark 1:35 But after this one day, “very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place and there he prayed.” 

In this moment Jesus secluded himself so much that his disciples could not find him and they had actually formed a search party. 

Or after John the Baptist’s death, Jesus said to the disciples,

‘Come away by yourselves to a quiet place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” 

And in our text for today from Matthew 11:28-30 it clearly shows that Jesus understood the importance of rest.  He incorporated rest into his life and his teaching.  I love how The Message translates Matthew 11:28-30,

“Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

That is one of my favorite phrases: We need to “learn the unforced rhythms of grace.”

But probably the story I love the most is found in Mark 4.  Most of us are probably familiar with this story.  Jesus and his closest followers set out across the Sea of Galilee by boat. Exhausted and spent from his day of ministry and teaching, Jesus falls fast asleep on a cushion in the stern of the boat. While Jesus is “sawing logs and counting sheep,” (carpenter/shepherd)  major storms blow in and fear sets in on everyone else aboard the boat.  Mark 4:38 finds everyone a bit upset at Jesus, and they shake him awake saying angerly, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

Now, you must remember that many of Jesus’ disciples were fisherman and knew just how dangerous the Sea of Galilee could get. So, if they were frantic during a squall or storm of this nature – that was a big problem. Yet Jesus shows us that even in the literal storms of life, rest is vital to building our trust, confidence, and definitely our peace.

The reason I love this story so much is because it is just how it seems to be. You finally decide to nap, rest, take a day off, or make some time in your schedule and then someone comes and says, “What are you doing? You don’t have time to rest.” 

While we were on our restful cruise, we received a text message from our neighbor which we could not read in its entirety because of the limited WiFi on the boat.  What I could read said,

“We just had some really bad storms at home and I went into your back yard to check…” And then I noticed there were some photos attached.

It was like someone was saying, “You don’t have time to rest.”  I rushed out of the theater where we were watching a movie and began figuring out how to contact our neighbor a different way. I was able to figure it out and found that we had sadly lost a huge part of the tulip tree in our backyard. We then began connecting with our children and my parents.  Once we checked everything, we got back to our restful time. 

Folks, please heear me on this. If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is there will always be another emergency, another bad political decision, more work to do, someone to help, something to fix, but sometimes to help us be better people in our world, more understanding, more clear about our decisions, we are going to need to say, “I am taking a rest, because that is more important at this time.”  

And when you and I are in the thick of the storms of life, do we take Jesus’ advice or simply push on. 

Do we find a quiet place to rest? 

Do we intentionally find time to recover and renew our life?

Do we, while everyone else is frantic around us, have the personal awareness and fortitude it takes to find a place stop the madness around us and really rest? 

Are you in need of rest, today? Would your week start better if you rested today?

If you allowed yourself to slow down and pause for a while might you be able to center down and worship or take action in a more meaningful way?   

To help us begin to process our need for the discipline of rest. I want to offer you some queries to ponder this morning (you will find them on the back of the bulletin):

·      What exhausts you or keeps you working past your limits?

·      When and where do you most deeply rest?

·      Who helps you rest?

·      What is it like for you to set aside time to rest and recharge?

·      How regular and inviolable is that time?

After you have had a moment to consider those queries, let us center down and enter a time waiting and, this morning, restful worship. Imagine the Divine saying to you this morning, “Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest” and then allow yourself to center down and enter that space this morning.

6-22-25 - Listening to Know - Chris Edwards

Listening to Know
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Chris Edwards
June 22, 2025

Good morning, friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  Today’s sermon is given by our guest speaker Chris Edwards. Chris is a listening professional who helps people find meaning in the stories and rhythms of life, holding space for the mystery of the big questions that don’t have easy answers. His work centers on helping people reclaim their spiritual narratives, especially in seasons of disorientation, doubt, or deconstruction.  He maintains a private practice as a spiritual director, Narrative Enneagram Practitioner, supervisor, and teaches the art of spiritual direction at Fall Creek Abbey.  Chris also serves as an affiliate professor at Kairos University and is on staff at Christian Theological Seminary.  He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Theology degree with a focus on spiritual direction and soul care. Before coming to the Western Yearly Meeting, Chris served as a priest in the Celtic Christian Church, and he has over 20 years of experience leading faith communities and guiding spiritual formation. He lives with his wife, Jill, in Fountain Square and is a member of First Friends. 

Our scripture reading is from Luke 24:13-35. 

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Quakers have a superpower and I am not sure they know it. In waiting worship we learn a skill that is deeply needed—yet neglected—by our culture. Jesus modeled this skill for us over and over, but a particularly clear example can be found in Luke 24:13-35 on the road to Emmaus. 

For context, just before these verses, Jesus was crucified, died, and he has just risen from the grave. He has not yet appeared to many—or any— of the disciples, depending on the account you read. Rumors are spreading that the tomb was empty, that death did not hold the Christ. But this truth is too much to hope for. Their grief demanded a protective reflex against any hope bubbling to the surface.

Two disciples travel the road, gossiping about the rumors and all that has been happening. A “stranger” comes alongside them, asking questions. Aghast that the stranger does not know the talk of the town—”You must be the only one in all the land who has not heard!”—they, like schoolchildren, recount all that has happened.

The stranger kept asking questions, getting them to talk more. When he went to travel on, they invited him to dinner. At the meal, he broke bread, blessed it, and as he served them, they suddenly saw… it was Jesus.

As the truth of his presence dawned on them, in their growing awareness, he disappeared. As they talked about this new happening they realized they had known the whole time, “were not our hearts burning within while talking and traveling with him?” Somewhere within, they knew something that they did not seem to know on the surface.

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Did you know that you know things that you don’t know you know? You may be thinking to yourself that you couldn’t know, since you indeed can’t know what you don’t know—by definition. On the other hand, you may be thinking that you don’t know what I am talking about, or that I don’t know what I am talking about, but bear with me.

The other day, my wife, Jill, and I had an encounter that is not all that unusual in the Edwards household. We are both thinkers and introverts, prone to getting lost in our heads. She asked me a question, and I didn’t know what she said. I don’t have the best of hearing, so with a confused look on my face, I looked at her and asked her to repeat herself with a perfunctory “Huh?”. When she turned to respond to me with a glare that scolded my inattentiveness, I suddenly knew what I had not known a moment before. Her question was there in my memory, clear as day, without a bit of ambiguity. Before a word left her mouth, I answered—naming our nightly uncertainty around dinner with, “I dunno, what do you want for dinner?”. And from there, our nightly dialogue continued in a routine manner.

I didn’t know that I knew what she said. Have you ever thought you had not heard someone, only to find that somehow a moment later you knew exactly what they said? If so, then you too know that you know things that you did not know that you knew.

There is this scholar I love, Esther Meek, who studies knowing. She helps us to see where this unknown knowing lives. She tells a story about when she was a child and her father was teaching her to ride a bike. He took her to the top of a hill and he pointed the bike down the hill. He placed her on the seat and pushed the bike. As she was flailing, she remembers his voice behind her calling out “BALANCE!”. She describes her little brain wrestling with that word. What does that mean? If you know how to ride a bike, you know exactly what it means. But I could give you the whole day to describe it to that little girl, none of your words would get her any closer to knowing what to do to keep the bike upright. Your body knows something that you could never quite put into words.

I didn’t know I could do this (gesture). I was a new youth pastor—19 years of age and had never preached a sermon— when I was invited to speak at a revival. Not only was I inexperienced in the art of homiletics, but somehow I had managed to make it through my entire education without even once speaking in front of the class. I did my best to prepare, but when I saw the crowd of hundreds of strangers, I didn’t know if any words or sounds would come out of my mouth. My palms were sweaty, my stomach was churning, and I wanted to run away. When I got behind the podium, everything settled. Words came out, the people responded with grunts of approval and Amens. To be fair, these were not Quakers. But I was in awe. God had done through me what I could not have done on my own. I had not known—as Phil 4:13 says—that I could do all things through God who strengthens me, I had only heard it. But my body knew what my mind could not. It settled in and acted when my understanding came up empty.

Research in neuroscience explains that all of the information from our nervous system travels up the brainstem and into the right side of the brain, the home of our subconscious. The same part of our brain that pumps our heart and regulates our temperature then decides which bits of that information to feed to the left side of your brain. It is here where our conscious mind and the language centers live. The subconscious part of our brain samples the environment 6 times per second, processing 11 million bits of data; while our conscious mind only samples the environment 5 times per second, registering a measly 16-40 bits of data (Wilder & Hendricks, 19; Peterson; Storr, Loc. 652). The body knows so much more than it could ever tell you.

Somewhere in my body, God placed the knowing of how to settle into a podium to preach despite my social anxiety the moment I step away from it. And like me knowing that Jill asked what I wanted for dinner, the disciples had a knowing that this “stranger” was Jesus. In each case, the knowing needed to travel from one side of the brain to the other

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Before we talk about how Jesus shows us how to help that journey along, we need to examine another knowing danger. First we talked about when I don’t have knowing and then I realize that I do. But sometimes I have knowing and then I realize I don’t.

I learned to play the Cello as an adult. “Learned” may be a generous description for my hacking away at Mary Had a Little Lamb for 5 years, but let’s go with it. Part of my education included learning how to read music. Each note is given the name of a letter A-G and placed at a certain location on a series of lines to represent a given sound. We are taught to translate the symbol on the lines into a letter and then the letter into a particular motion on the musical instrument.

As I was learning, this translation was all happening very consciously, with a great deal of effort. You might understand my surprise when my teacher, who had just played a note from the page as a demonstration, could not answer my simple question about which note that was. I gestured and pointed to the note on the page, trying to be more clear because I thought she had not understood my question. Then I watched her count the lines, using the same GBDFA mnemonic that I often had to use. What was going on here? How could she not know?

I understood her dilemma later in my musical journey. The more I learned about music, the more my subconscious took over. The translation from letter to note and note to motion became automatic and less and less conscious. Eventually I too started to forget the letter connected to the note on the page. A little later, I noticed that the letter connected to the place on the fretboard also started to fade away. I had less and less use for the letter.

You may have heard the saying: “If you don’t use it, you lose it”. This is Hebb’s Law, an idea passed around neuroscience circles to explain the pruning our brains do to be as efficient as possible (Barrett, 51). In the case of learning music, my brain thought it was more efficient to skip the intermediary letter and just translate image to motion. Later, during COVID, I stopped playing altogether and my brain started pruning even my most basic musical memories. Ones I had rather had kept.

If this can happen with my musical memories, can it also happen with knowing God? How is it that the disciples forgot the face of their friend Jesus? Had their brains began pruning away the image of a man they thought dead? I’ve caught myself forgetting God’s work in my life. Our world offers so few places to tell our God stories. How many of them get pruned away as they atrophy for lack of integration in our larger narratives?

Any solution from Jesus to our knowing problems needs to include not just how to get my knowing from my subconscious right brain to my concision left brain, but also how to keep from forgetting the knowing I don’t even know I know.

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Jesus’ example offers a couple of ideas for healthy knowing that fit well within the Quaker milieu.

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First, he listens. When Jesus first encountered the two disciples on the road he listened to their gossip. There was nothing they had to speculate on that he did not already know, and know more fully then they did, yet he listened. He was not listening so that he might hear, but so that they might be heard. In being heard they found their knowing. When we think of Jesus in the scriptures we might imagine him mostly preaching or talking, but in a study of Mark that I just finished for school I found that Jesus listened in 94.1% of the dialogues. 64.7% of his conversations started with him listening before saying a single word.

Quakers are no strangers to listening. In waiting worship we listen for the light within. In clearness committees we listen for the fingerprints of God in the narrative of the person before us. Listening is a natural part of our contemplative ethos. Quaker Douglas Steer is often quoted as saying, “to listen another’s soul into a condition of disclosure and discovery may be almost the greatest service that any human being ever performs for another. One can listen someone into existence” . 

I completed a training in listening once. Our first assignment was to write our spiritual narrative. Each week for the first six months of class we heard one of our peers deliver their story in front of the group. We held space for each other’s stories and we learned about sacred listening by practicing being fully present for each sacred story. After each one, we sang together as a way to honor the sacred tale we had just heard. It was a song developed during a workshop with Carrie Newcomer, a Quaker singer-songwriter. The first few times it felt a little silly, but the words started to work on something inside of me. 

“It’s or - di - nar - y, ex -traor - di - nar -y. 

It’s a true soul sto - ry, and it’s ho -ly, 

it is ho - ly.” 

I had completed exercises like this before. For seminary, men’s groups, ordination, etc. I was used to sharing my testimony. I had even shared parts of it weekly in front of my church as a pastor. On paper, this was nothing new, but when I shared my spiritual narrative with this group of people who were intentionally practicing the art of listening, something shifted. Tears formed in my eyes as I told familiar stories in what would seem on the surface to be a familiar setting. When I finished there was a pregnant pause and it felt like my whole being was sinking deeper, zooming in. The first person started singing “It’s a true soul story…”. Their voice cut the silence with a sacred truth. Other voices joined in and I shuffled back to my seat with tears flowing freely. All sorts of connections started to form in my mind, weaving the narrative of my life into a new and beautiful tapestry of meaning. There I was, listened into having a spiritual experience. “It is holy”.

These people had listened me into what Steere called “a condition of disclosure and discovery”. It really was a great service to me. The knowing journey from subconscious to conscious was aided by the open and receptive space to speak my thoughts out loud. Listening addresses our first problem, creating the reflective space needed for knowing to take that long 10 cm journey from right to left brain. 

What if we took this listening with us, outside these walls? Out into the busy world that moves too fast for listening? Knowing that listening can help another find their own knowing, that you can listen them into an awareness of that of God, might you consider your next encounter an invitation to ministry?

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On the road to Emmaus, Jesus also asked questions. He asked about what he already knew. He did not need their knowing. He was not asking for information. His queries were a speech act of service. His questions brought them back to their inner knowing when they paused on the surface or turned away from the light within to find answers in another. Questions probed at the knowing that they did not yet know they had. In the research project I mentioned earlier I found that over 20% of Jesus’ sentences were questions or queries. Given the monologues and sermons recorded in the gospel of Mark, this shows an affinity for that particular conversational tool.

Quakers too, have a fondness for a good query. At First Friends, Pastor Bob ends every sermon with a series of queries for us to take into waiting worship. Another Quaker author, Charity Sandstrom, published a book of nothing but questions in “Quaker Queries for All Seasons”.

Narrative therapists and practitioners are listening professionals that help us to integrate forgotten and underprivileged stories that are risk of being purged from our memory. These marginalized tales might be isolated experiences that have never been fully processed or integrated with our larger life stories. Narrative Practitioners use questions to encourage us to “thicken” the story. My colleague at Christian Theological Seminary, Dr. Suzanne Coyle is a well known leader in the practice and she says, “By thickening stories … people are better able to identify which life stories are enriching, which stories they would like to develop further, and which stories they want to deemphasize...new directions and possibilities for our life stories emerge. She add that this is how “our lives gain meaning”.

Carefully crafted questions help us address the second problem, to tap into and stay with the knowing we already have, to “thicken” the knowing, so that we don’t forget it. 

What would it be like for you engage your curiosity? For you to find the inner child who knew how to ask question after question until your parents and siblings were exasperated with you? I am not encouraging you to annoy people, but instead of offering answers this week, what would it feel like to turn those looking to you for answers back to their own knowing?

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Finally, lest you only take these as task for you to perform as a service to others, I want to ensure that you pause to consider how you too might find receptive spaces where you are heard and queried so that you might both know and remember what you know.

Sharing testimonies is a great example of such a receptive space. While visiting Hadley Friends recently, I was pleased to discover that each week they take turns giving space for a member or regular attender to share their story—their knowing—so that they might know it more fully. Alternatively, those with something they would like to explore in more depth might decide to seek a clearness committee. How long has it been since you have had intentional listening space held for you? 

Maybe those spaces feel too public for you and you need a more private or individual space to explore your stories. There are people who create intentional space for individuals for the sort of listening and queries that we have been talking about. The training I mentioned earlier was part of my training as a spiritual director, a practice that focuses on this sort of individualized listening. I know there are several of us within WYM, like Rachel Doll O’Mahoney, and Dela Stanely-Green both come to mind. 

What I have learned as a spiritual director is that the world is desperate for more listening. We are in the middle of a mental health crisis and our therapists are overwhelmed. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Quakers have refined these skills over many lifetimes. Friends are MADE for this! 

In monastic circles, each order has what they call a “charism”. It’s their special gift to the world. Among the Benedictines, its their hospitality; the Franciscans, simplicity; and the Jesuits, teaching. I wonder if listening is the Quaker charism. In other words, it’s our superpower.

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As we enter waiting worship today, I encourage you to practice listening by listening to that of God within; curiosity by focusing on the queries from the message; and receptivity by being receptive to what God might be saying to you or may want to say through you.

What would it be like for you engage your curiosity? For you to find the inner child who knew how to ask question after question until your parents and siblings were exasperated with you? I am not encouraging you to annoy people, but instead of offering answers this week, what would it feel like to turn those looking to you for answers back to their own knowing?