9-14-25 - The Crack that Let in the Light

The Crack that Let in the Light

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

September 14, 2025

Good morning Friends and welcome to Light Reflections. This morning at the Meetinghouse we are actually celebrating my 30 years of ministry. So today, keeping with the current series, I will be sharing a little of the process I personally have taken over the last 30 years to embrace the Beloved Community in my ministry.  The scripture I have chosen in from Galatians 3:28 from the Message.

In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal.    

A little over 30 years ago, if someone sat me down over lunch at Concordia University in Chicago, the school I was preparing to graduate from at the time and said, Bob, in 30 years

·      you will be a Quaker Minister living in Indianapolis, Indiana,

·      you will have a Doctorate in Leadership and Spiritual Formation,

·      you will have lived in 5 states (Indiana, Illinois, Texas, Florida, and Oregon),

·      you will have served 15 churches or meetings, ministries, religious organizations, and a university.

·      you will have three amazing grown children – the last of which will hopefully graduate from Indiana University this Spring,

·      you will have been married for 30 years to Sue your best friend, partner in life, and grand adventurer,

·      you will have lived through Y2K, a pandemic, and two denominational/Yearly Meeting splits,

·      you will become an Anglican Priest for a period,

·      your parents will be doing well and living just across town from you (and your uncle will finally get married),

·      your political views, theological views, even your views about life and sexuality will radically change,

·      you will still love Star Wars, the Muppets, and going to Disney World just as much as when you were a kid,

·      you will return to vinyl records as your choice for listening to music,

·      a piece of your art will appear on the cover of a magazine,

·      on your days off you will enjoy frequenting thrift stores, reading, gardening, and painting,

·      even though everyone you know seems to have a tattoo, you will not have one.

·      And what will sustain you in all of this is your work on building a Beloved Community of friends and loved ones that span those 30 years.”

If that is what I was told back then, I would have simply laughed and shook my head in disagreement.  Come on…vinyl records, really?

My first paid ministry position was a part-time gig at Trinity Lutheran Church in Roselle, Illinois while I was in college. At the time, they were what would be considered a mega-church – 5000+ members.  I was hired to oversee the Jr. High Sunday Program called “Overtime” which appropriately met in the gymnasium.  I organized programming for 150 seventh and eighth graders and about 50 high schoolers that were to be my small group leaders. Our guest speakers included Chicago Bears players and Christian Rock Artists.  We had a live band, and about 25 small groups that filled the gymnasium.

My 20hour work week was filled with logistics, organizing, and setup. Looking back that group of youth were bigger than many of the churches or meetings I would go on to serve in my 30 years of ministry. 

Steve Armbrust, the Director of Christian Education at the church was not just my supervisor, but he was also my friend. I loved spending time with Steve. We not only shared an office, but we shared our lives. Steve trusted me, believed in me, and knew just how to create spaces for me to excel. Just what I needed at this forming stage of life.

As well, Steve taught me that ministry was not just about “the show” but more about relationships and the community in which we served. Steve always made sure my 20 hours included time to go with him to visit people and network with the locals. We did everything from putting on a celebration for a woman who turned 100 years old in the community, to visiting with the owners of a local printing shop, a thrift store, and multiple eateries, as well as the families and youth. Trinity had a school which made it easier to interact with the kids and parents, and after classes let out, we went and visited with the teachers to check in on them. Ironically, Sue and I would both do our student teaching at Trinity. This visiting was not on our job descriptions but was very much part of Steve’s philosophy of ministry.

Steve always would emphasize to me that ministry involved EVERYONE, not just those, who on paper, we were to serve. We needed all generations – young and old, businesspeople, shop owners, retired folks, women and men, fellow colleagues and partners. EVERYONE!   

Well, over the next several years, this focus to involve everyone in ministry began to work on me.  Steve created a “crack in my life” that I believe let the Light in.  I would wrestle with this in new ways as I continued my journey in ministry. 

Sue and I had already been struggling for some time with the non-acceptance of women in leadership in the church, but soon there would be others that clearly were not involved.

Let me tell you a few stories – some you may have heard and some that I have not shared until today – like this story.   

During my internship in Oviedo, Florida back in 1995, a man no one had ever seen before joined us for worship. He proceeded to walk up the middle aisle and sit in the second row, right in front of the pulpit. Now, this was a Lutheran church, and most people filled the back of the sanctuary way before the front (much like First Friends). Most Sundays, the first 3-8 rows were usually empty leaving a huge gulf between the congregation and those serving up front. Not this week, this man had “broke the unspoken rules” and everyone was whispering about his boldness. That would only be the beginning of their whispers and stares. 

During the sermon, as our pastor was preaching, the man began to raise his hands and exclaim, “Amen!” Many sitting around Sue and me were in shock. This was not a typical response in a Lutheran church. You could even see the pastor was a bit rattled. The man continued to be excited about every word our pastor preached (and to be honest his sermons rarely garnered any response, especially this type). Whispers turned into frustrated looks and even an usher walked down the middle aisle hoping to give the guy the idea that he was out of place. The man did not care. He continued responding out loud through the entire message. 

After the service, most people avoided the man, but somehow, he cornered our pastor who always greeted people in the back after the service. As he was leaving, I heard the pastor say to him, “You stop by the office sometime this week and we can talk.”  At that moment, I was proud of our pastor stepping up and inviting him to meet, since he had become the center of all the conversations in the narthex, at the table for donuts and coffee, and, yes, even the proverbial parking lot. 

On Monday, I arrived to work as usual, saw that the pastor was in his office and I sat down to begin my day.  Soon I heard an unrecognizable voice in the waiting area talking to one of our secretaries. It was the man from Sunday, and he had come to talk with the pastor. The secretary said she would let the pastor know he was here to see him.  That is when things changed dramatically.

I watched as the pastor slipped out his office door through the conference room and out the back of the building. My office window had a good view of him taking off in his golf cart.  Where is he going, I thought. Just then the secretary said, “I’m sorry, but the pastor is not here.” What? Did something just come up? Was there an emergency at home? I was perplexed. I heard the man leave discouraged. I went out and asked the secretary what had transpired. She wasn’t sure, but all she knew was the pastor was clear that he did not want to meet with this man.

As an intern, I probably didn’t ask enough questions, but when our pastor returned in about 30 minutes, I became even more confused. He frantically entered and asked for cleaning supplies. Then proceeded to wipe down the entire lobby and waiting area, especially the places that the man may have touched or sat. I had never seen anyone so determined to clean a waiting room.

Later in a conversation with one of our secretaries, I found out that the man had told the pastor he had AIDS. The pastor’s phobia was so great that he feared he could get AIDS by touching any place the man had touched. By this time science had proven this untrue. No matter, it freaked our pastor out so much that he jumped on his golf cart and went home to avoid any interaction. 

Was this a ministry to everyone? All I could recall was Jesus interacting with the lepers.

The crack that let the light in continued to open in my life.

A year later, I was in Atlanta, Georgia as a representative from our district for our National Youth Gathering.  Now, I was helping plan and organize an event for 40,000 youth. Part of our planning offered me a chance to see some sights in Atlanta.  The first day I visited the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. That, in itself, was inspiring, but the following day I arrived back at the bus terminal and decided to go to the King Center.  Please understand, at this time, I knew nothing about the plight of Black people in our country (much like most of the people in my denomination at the time), and all I knew about Dr. King was that he was assassinated.  As I entered the bus, I noticed the bus was empty (go figure).  The bus driver asked me if I was going to the King Center as if I may have jumped on the wrong bus.  I said yes, he closed the doors and said, “Pick any seat.”  On the way across Atlanta the bus driver (a black man from the city) told me about the community he loved and how it had changed over the years. 

Upon arrival, I thanked the man for the ride and approached the main building at the King Center.  I had no idea how my life would change as I entered through those doors. I was greeted by a very nice lady who welcomed me. I gave her my ticket and asked her where I should begin. She escorted me to a door and said, “start here”.  Looking at the size of the museum, I assumed it would take me about 15-20 minutes max and I was concerned about what I would do with the rest of my 2-3 hours.

Well, almost three hours later, I left the museum utterly broken and in tears. What had I just experienced?  What had we done to Black people in America?  What had the church done?  In that museum, (as I mentioned last week) I was introduced to a new terminology – The Beloved Community.  How in the world, with all that Black people have been put through in our country, from Slavery and racial violence to neglect and even the lack of acknowledgement as human beings, are we working to include everyone?  No wonder my sheltered life and churches were filled by people as white as me. I don’t think they knew the whole story.  Was this a Beloved Community?

On the very walls of the King Center I read,

Beloved Community is an achievable global society where injustice and discrimination cease, and love, justice, and peace prevail for all people

All people – EVERYONE!  Again, the crack let in the Light.

A few years later when I was working at Huntington University, I often met with the Dean of our University, Norrie Friesen.  Norrie is a Mennonite and has a heart for ALL people – everyone!  One day over lunch at Subway, he encouraged me to read the book, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown.  I made the mistake of taking the book with me on a family get away to Wisconsin.  I read the book in one setting and became very angry about how the so-called Christians treated Native peoples.  Was this ALL people – everyone? One of my good Friends in this meeting is a Native American. The Crack let in the Light once again.  

A year later, we entered a year of studying diversity at Huntington University.  At times it was an uphill struggle.  I remember a very serious conversation that was interrupted when an older woman on our staff exclaimed, “But Jesus was white.”  Most of that year we spent our time looking at diversity from only a black and white perspective. 

That is until Sue and I helped lead an Urban Plunge to Chicago where we spent time in Boystown – one of the Midwest’s largest LGBTQIA+ communities.  We were working with a local ministry to the community, who challenged us with an immersion experience.  We were paired up and sent out to spend time in the community.  We were to find a local eatery, bar, nightclub, and spend a couple of hours in that one place, talk to the people, the workers, and get a feel for the community. 

That night, since all the students were paired up, Sue and I had the chance to experience this together and talk about what we were experiencing and feeling.  As the students were joining conga lines at Drag Queen parties, or participating in gay karaoke, Sue and I found a quiet restaurant. We ordered some food and wondered what the night would bring.  A nervous man entered the restaurant and was seated right next to us. Then another person joined him. Their conversation was about his desire to transition.  Through tears, he talked about the fear and pain he endured, and how all he wanted was to be accepted as who he felt he was inside. Our hearts were broken for this man and again the crack grew bigger to let in the light.

I returned to Huntington with questions about looking at diversity from a broader perspective and worked to have better conversations about the LGBTQIA+ community.   Because again, I believed all people meant EVERYONE. 

Around this same time, I had begun working on my doctorate in Oregon.  We were assigned both a spiritual director and psychological counselor for our program.  In one of my meetings with the counselor I asked about the church and the LGBTQIA+ community.  And he said something I was not expecting.  He said, “Bob, have you ever heard of the Beloved Community?”  Surprised, “I said, well yes!”  He then said,

“I believe the Beloved Community is what the church is longing to become. When ALL PEOPLE are included and part of the conversation we get to see a greater expression of the Divine in our midst.” 

He went on saying,

“The church needs LGBTQIA+ folks, we need people of all cultures and races, we need people of all economic situations, we need diversity to see a better picture of God.  That’s what I believe is the Beloved Community.” 

Most people don’t know that my doctoral dissertation was on how in ministry we prepare for conflict. If you haven’t realized this already, most conflict happens among people. Often people in community.  Sometimes by people who do not want to be in community with other people.  Sometimes among people who call themselves a church or even a meeting.

I did not know when writing my dissertation that I would be entering an era in ministry that would be defined by conflict. I watched and took action as my yearly meeting (along with many others across the country) divided over same-sex marriage and biblical authority. I literally watched friends who had “come-out” to Sue and me because we were safe people, be tortured by people who called themselves “Christians” – some in my own Meeting.  And then in the coming months I watched my country become deeply polarized over politics, race, gender roles, wealth, and who had the “right” answers. Some people Sue and I loved and cared about (even family) literally stopped talking to us or communicating because of our views, choices, or beliefs. People even wanted us out of the church for wanting to love ALL people.  

Sometimes this makes it really difficult to accept ALL people – everyone, doesn’t it?   

As we see in the news daily, conflict can easily evolve into anger, resentment, and sadly violence. People get torn apart and families divided – sometimes in just trying to be who they are.  

It is often in these times that I return to scripture for some hope. I find myself returning often to 1 Corinthians 12:13-24, but I need to hear it through Eugene Peterson’s The Message translation to understand how the Beloved Community is seen within the pages of scripture.  Just listen to these words:

The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, transparent and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

For 30 years now, I have been learning to imagine and work to build a Beloved Community, the Body of Christ in the present moment, in each of the places I have served.

I believe among Quakers, because of our testimonies of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship, I have seen the Beloved Community, the body of Christ in the Present moment, come to fruition in very powerful and effective ways. But folks, there is still work to do. 

Women’s voices need to be heard more than ever, today.  We must continue to acknowledge and work to change our ugly history with people – those with Aids, First Nations People, People of Color, LGBTQIA+ people, the elderly and the young…or for that matter, ANY person that is discriminated against or treated unjustly.

I plan to join you, as we did last Sunday night with Stuart in Greenwood to make our voices heard for our immigrant families, neighbors, and friends, to continue taking action for the Beloved Community wherever people are not being included, accepted, and finding a safe place to be fully a part of the body!  

This is what I have realized is key to our growth and survival as both a religious body and citizens of this country – and to me, those things are no different.

To close my thoughts, I have mentioned before the group of guys (a truly Beloved Community) that I met with every other week for almost two years at Huntington University who wrestled with me on some of these very topics.  Early on we were studying the book, “Turning to One Another” by Margaret Wheatley.  And we came across these words:

“It is no longer enough to simply say that relationships are important. A good part of effective work is knowing exactly who is in each box on such a chart. As former American Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole put it, “When the river is rising and it’s 2:00 a.m., that’s not the time to start a relationship.”  The relationship has to be there first. “If you don’t have the web or fabric of good, trusting relationships, you can’t suddenly pick up the phone and say, ‘I need you.’ Relationships are not only primary but are the only way we can operate now.”

And I would say this is just as true for building the Beloved Community.  If we are not building a community of trusting relationships for ALL PEOPLE, we are not going to be prepared for when the phone rings and someone says, “I need you.”  I sense there are many out there crying out, “I need you” right now, and it is still falling on deaf ears.  Let this be a crack in your life that lets the Light in this day.  Will you commit to building this web, this fabric of good, this Beloved Community so we can continue to answer those calls?  

Now, as we enter waiting worship.  Let us take a moment to center down and then ponder the following queries:

·      Who do I struggle including in ALL people – everyone?  Or what part of the “body” am I rejecting?

·      What relationships do I need to work on to be ready to answer the call that says, “I need you?”

09-07-25 - Beloved Community: Through the Eyes of the Spices+

Beloved Community: Through the Eyes of the Spices+

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

September 7, 2025

Good morning Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning at the meetinghouse it is Kick-Off Sunday. That means we are starting our fall programming, and I am starting this new sermon series on “Beloved Community: Through the Eyes of the Spices+.”  The scripture I have chosen for this first message is from Romans 12:14-18 from the New Revised Standard Version.  

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly;  do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.  If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 

As I began working on this series on Beloved Community Through the Eyes of the S.P.I.C.E.S.+ a couple of months ago, I realized not everyone may know what we are talking about when we say the Beloved Community. 

I personally wasn’t introduced to the Beloved Community until my late 20’s and as I have studied it, I have come to learn, I knew very little about it back then. It has taken 30 more years of study, conversation, and experience to come to my current understand and its implications for those of us on the Quaker Way.

Many associate the term, “Beloved Community” with the Civil Rights Movement, and often people attribute it to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., yet the concept was first coined by philosopher Josiah Royce in the early 20th century.

Josiah Royce, was a Harvard Professor who spoke of the Beloved Community in his 1913 book, “The Problem of Christianity.”  Here is a bit of what he said in that book,

What is practically necessary is this: Let your (religion) be the practical acknowledgement of the Spirit of the Universal and Beloved Community... Since the office of religion is to aim towards the creation on earth of the Beloved Community, the future task of religion is the task of inventing and applying the arts which shall win men over to unity, and which shall overcome their original hatefulness by the gracious love, not of mere individuals, but of communities. Now such arts are still to be discovered. Judge every social device, every proposed reform, every national and local enterprise, by the one test: 

Does this help towards the coming of the universal community? If you have a church, judge your own church by this standard; and if your church does not yet fully meet this standard, aid towards reforming your church accordingly.

Josiah Royce described the Beloved Community as a union based on mutual love, unlike a natural social group characterized by rules, conflict, and rebellion.  

This makes Royce's Beloved Community an ideal universal community unified by shared love and loyalty, rather than external structures. (hmmm…..that sounds a bit Quaker-like). Royce viewed this community as the core of Christianity and even went as far as to call it the source of salvation. That may be a bit confusing, but too often, we in the church in America, only see salvation as Jesus dying on a cross so we can get to heaven, but that is not all salvation has meant throughout the Bible or even early Christianity. It is not always a future hope, but often a present reality.

Jesus himself, in Matthew 10:42 equates salvation to being kind and giving someone a cold cup of water. He says,   

“and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple – truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

In Greek the word used is soteria – which is the same word used for salvation in many other places in the Bible. Salvation in the Bible can mean a lot of things, it can be deliverance or even preservation. So, within the Beloved Community, care for those in our midst is essential or key to preserve each other through love and compassion.   

This isn’t that far off from Jesus who summarizes the commandments of God by saying,

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

So, when the philosophy student, Martin Luther King Jr., comes across Josiah Joyce’s concept of Beloved Community he is drawn to that same challenge for the churches and communities of his day.

In “Facing the Challenge of a New Age” from 1956, Dr. King wrote this,

“But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of a beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. It is this kind of understanding good will, that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles.” 

That is a beautiful vision and full of hope for us still today.

On our family’s last trip a few years ago to the King Center in Atlanta, GA (a place I would highly recommend you spend some time), we were given a tour by one of my former students at Huntington University, whose fiancé at that time was working at the King Center. He led our family through The Freedom Hall Museum and then out into the courtyard where Martin and Coretta Scott King are entombed.  Down at the end of the water feature where you get a good view of their tombs on display, you also can see a wall leading over to an eternal flame with words about the Beloved Community written on it.

Many do not know that Coretta Scott King became a champion for creating Beloved Community. Some scholars even think her work on the Beloved Community expanded her husband’s work greatly, giving it more definition and substance after his passing.  Like her husband before her, Corretta became a student and champion of Josiah Joyce’s philosophy – but found a new way to interpret it for her day. 

Corretta pointed out that for Royce, the Beloved Community was defined by five key characteristics:

·      peaceful conflict resolution,

·      recognition of the interdependence of humanity,

·      compassion as an animating force,

·      cooperative action against injustice,

·      and the use of just means to achieve just ends.

Corretta also explored Royce’s five signal attributes central to the Beloved Community. All five hold profound relevance for us today and I think you will see how well they are going to be seen through the eyes of our Quaker S.P.I.C.E.S.:

1) Achievability through Shared Desire: The Beloved Community is built on the universal human aspiration for peace, happiness, and safety. It is a realistic vision, attainable through collective effort and moral courage.

2) Nonviolent Conflict Resolution: Conflicts are inevitable, but the Beloved Community addresses them without hostility, ill will, or resentment. This approach transforms adversaries into collaborators.

3) Recognition of Interdependence: The Beloved Community values the inherent worth of all living beings and ecosystems, fostering a sense of global responsibility.

4) Compassion-Driven Policies: In this society, kindness and love motivate actions, guiding efforts to end systemic issues like hunger, prejudice, and environmental degradation.

5) Just Means for Just Ends: The process of creating change must mirror the desired outcome, ensuring that compassion and goodwill underpin every action.

Coretta summarized and reinterpreted much of what Joyce and her husband taught about the Beloved Community and wanted those words not only remembered but lived out.

She did not want it to be just a flat utopian ideal (which many had thought Joyce’s ideas had become), but rather a practical and achievable vision for addressing the interconnected crises of our communities and ultimately our world as Dr. King envisioned.  

So, as you leave the graves of Correta and Martin at the King Center, you cannot miss the wall with Coretta’s summary of the Beloved Community. It reads,

The Beloved Community is a realistic vision of an achievable society, one in which problems and conflict exist, but are resolved peacefully and without bitterness.  In the Beloved Community, caring and compassion drive political policies that support the worldwide elimination of poverty and hunger and all forms of bigotry and violence.  The Beloved Community is a state of heart and mind a spirit of hope and goodwill that transcends all boundaries and barriers and embraces all creation.  At its core, the Beloved Community is an engine of reconciliation.  This way of living seems a long way from the kind of word we have now, but I do believe it is a goal that can be accomplished through courage and determination, and through education and training, if enough people are willing to make the necessary commitment.

I remember my family stopping to read that word-for-word and I snapped a photo to remember it and to try to live it out.  Those words made a deep impression on my soul. So much, that as I began my doctoral work I was moved to study not only the philosophies that shaped Dr. King, but also the realistic implications they presented.

What surprised me in my study was the intersection that arose between the Beloved Community and the Quaker Way. 

People like Howard Thurman and Bayard Rustin who were both shaped heavily by the Quaker Way had the ear of Dr. King and together they articulated complementary ideas of the Beloved Community that gave wings to a practical approach – not just a philosophy.

What came to the surface were some topics that we as Quakers have come to appreciate and promote. Concepts like

·      Finding simple and common approaches to conflicts and tapping into spiritual essentials,   

·      Seeking Peace, non-violence, and even pacifism instead of violence,

·      Upholding integrity through moral principles and acting with moral authority,

·      Emphasizing a community of love over violence and division,

·      Embracing equality and the inherent worth of every individual, and

·      Responsible management of shared resources and collective responsibility.

Otherwise known as our Testimonies or S.P.I.C.E.S. (Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship.)

In the weeks leading to the Holiday season at First Friends, we will be exploring the Beloved Community: Through the Eyes of the S.P.I.C.E.S.  As well, I am adding a couple additional SPICES: Justice and Truth, Empowerment, and Gratitude, which I believe are essential for building the Beloved Community, today.  I look forward this to series and our interactions over the next several months.

For now, let us center down and enter a time of waiting worship. Here are some queries for us to ponder.

·      Where do I see the Beloved Community in my midst? What can I offer?

·      What is the hardest part for me in building the Beloved Community? What or who may help me with this?

·      How may we together build a safer, more peaceful, and nurturing Beloved Community at First Friends?

8-31-25 - The Art and Incarnation of Protest

The Art and Incarnation of Protest

Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting

Pastor Bob Henry

August 31, 2025

Good morning, Friends and welcome to Light Reflections.  This morning I am concluding my series on Creativity.  The scripture I have chosen for this message is from John 1:14, from The Message,  

The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish.

I had a professor once who opened his class by saying, “This afternoon we are talking about incarnation.” He then said, “Most of you have theologies, dogmas, beliefs, about incarnation in light of Jesus, but I want to look at it in light of us.”  He then gave some definitions of incarnation that helped us see what he was talking about from a slightly different perspective than we were all prepared for.  He began by defining incarnation this way:

Incarnation is about that which is divine becoming real in what is natural, banal, human, or secular. 

Then he continued with another query for us to ponder: What is the Divine? He went on to say this:

I think the divine is the virtues that bind us together as one in loving, peaceful, just, sustainable, and harmonious community where all are respected and cared for as equals. 

It is seeing reality not from the position of self (me vs. you) or tribe (us vs. them) or specie (humanity vs. the rest of creation), but as one (we or all of us as family — including all species and creation). 

The divine therefore is not a being external to us, but both within and between us. There are ancient words in Greek and other languages that convey this within/between nature of incarnation for which we have no English equivalent. 

By this understanding the divine is incarnated whenever we individually and collectively live by virtues like compassion, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, peace and nonviolence, caring and responsible stewardship, egalitarian justice for all, generosity, beneficence, magnanimity, etc. 

When these virtues live in us, it changes both our perspective and behavior. When we see and treat all reality as one, where we work for the good of all things (rather than from a position of competing interests and self-centeredness), then the divine has been incarnated… 

To me this sounded very Quaker, I was attending a Quaker Seminary at the time, so that made sense. But for us Quakers, we explain “incarnational living” as a way of life that finds the divine Spirit, or the "Light," made manifest and visible through the actions and existence of ordinary people in their daily lives.  What I find interesting is that it is not a theological concept separated from daily experience but a lived reality that erases the dividing line between the sacred and the secular. 

Jesus was one (and probably one of the best) examples of this incarnational life. But when we study it in more depth, I believe Jesus embraced an incarnational life to be first and foremost an example for you and me (not to be debated for centuries in theological huddles). 

We are the ones whom he says his Spirit resides within. 

We are the ones that he says will do even greater things than he did. 

We are the ones that must understand this incarnational life to fully understand our place in our world. 

So, what does this all have to do with our creativity and art?

At our recent Western Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions at Quaker Haven, I was asked to help facilitate a workshop with a representative from Friends Committee on National Legislation on “Advocacy and Art.”  FCNL had been focusing for several years on what Advocacy and the Arts looked like, but in our workshop, we were lightening up the conversation by both talking about creative advocacy and utilizing our talents and artful skills to make our point. 

I was asked to bring several of the signs that I have made to hold up at rallies or protests at the State House as examples.  As well, everyone who came to this workshop was offered a plethora of art supplies, blank signs, and discussion starts to artistically make their own signs for their meetings, homes, neighborhoods, and local rallies and protests. 

As the FCNL representative shared about the condition of things going on in Washington, our country currently, and what all was happening globally, we transitioned to talking about where she saw hope.  She was quick to point out the hope was sitting in that very room, and she said each of us brings a unique voice, our own creative spirit, and ultimately hope to our situations.  And we need to be advocating for that hope and sharing it in creative ways. 

After talking we spent the rest of the workshop letting our creativity flow and sharing where we saw those signs or other creative expressions bringing awareness and really making a difference in our communities. 

Now, what brought all these thoughts on incarnation and sharing in creative ways together was a blogpost I ran across in 2023 as I was preparing for the Christmas season. I dropped it in a file on my computer only to come across it again this week. 

The blogpost was by Ryan Bonfiglio and it dealt with a very sensitive topic for our world still today – Palestine and the Israeli West Bank.

I want to read Ryan’s words as I believe they get to the intersection of both our incarnation and our artful, creative expressions of hope. He says this,

Within a mile of the traditional site of Jesus’ birth stands a massive 30-foot-tall concrete wall that was built to separate Israel from the Palestinian controlled West Bank. Whether understood as a necessary security measure or an instrument of racial segregation, the Israeli West Bank barrier stands as an unsettling symbol of the discord, violence, and sectarianism that is tearing apart this region today.

But there is more to this wall than hate.

On the Bethlehem side, the wall’s concrete slabs double as a canvas for protest art. From end to end, the wall is graffitied with images and words that are equal parts provocative and prophetic. Some images hold a mirror up to the reality of everyday life, bearing witness to the trauma and grief that accompanies a walled-in-city. Other images dare to visualize a world transformed and healed. Still others seem to function as an invocation to prayer.

He goes on to say,

My favorite image is that of a woman in the orange silhouette. From her outstretched arms flutter doves, traditional symbols of peace. Behind her one can discern not only the outline of the town but what appears to be an eye that surveils the activities of the woman – and seemingly all who pause to gaze upon her. Who is this woman? Does she represent lady wisdom, who in Proverbs 8 speaks words of peace and righteousness at the crossroads of the town? Or are we to imagine her as the embodied Spirit of God that descends upon the disciples in Acts 2? Or do we see in her the outlines of teenage Mary, who yearns for a more peaceful world for her newborn son?

In the midst of interminable conflict, the wall in Bethlehem has become a public art installation. The creation of professional artists and lay people alike, this protest art is varied in substance and style. Image is layered upon image on what has come to be a living, evolving canvas that bespeaks what is otherwise unimaginable in that place: hope.

What if we began thinking of the Incarnation as a form of divine protest art? The Word made flesh, much like the art on the Israeli West Bank barrier, was intended to form social consciousness and bear witness to where healing is needed. Protest art is not meant only to be admired for its aesthetics. It is meant to mobilize responses of peace building and conflict transformation.

So, it is with the Incarnation. That the Word became flesh is not just an interesting fact of history to ponder or sing about during Advent. It’s a call to action. This is evident in the way in which reports of Jesus’ birth immediately cause magi and shepherds to drop what they are doing and flock to Bethlehem to see with their own eyes the installation of God in flesh.

Further, protest art is, at its core, democratized art. Rather than being the work of a single famous artist, the images on the wall in Bethlehem are the work of the people – quite literally, a “liturgy.” Protest art is dynamic and responsive to evolving realities. It has the capacity to inspire hope even when (or especially when) such hope is beyond imagination. Perhaps this is exactly how we are to understand the song of the heavenly host who responds to the image of the Incarnation with the words, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom God favors”.

That Jesus was born in a place like Bethlehem is not insignificant. For all we know, God could have had Jesus born in a far more significant or “holy” city, such as Rome, Jerusalem, Nineveh, or Alexandria. Each of these places would have been perfect…if the point of the incarnation was to tether the Gospel to political influence, power, wealth, or cultural cachet.

But that’s not our story.

God risked proximity with humanity in a place that was deeply broken. As it turns out, the Bethlehem of the 1st c. CE was not all that different from the Bethlehem of today. It, too, was a place in which poverty, political strife, sectarianism, and violence abounded. The Word became flesh in this sort of place as an expression of protest against the ugly realities that tear apart our world, then and now.

Much like the image of the woman described above, the Incarnation is not only meant to grab our attention; it’s meant to unsettle us, to compel us to puncture the pretense that everything is as it should be, to bear witness to the possibility of hope and healing. This has always been the function of protest art, whether human or divine.

Folks, what if you and I began thinking of our incarnation as a form of divine protest art? 

As my professor said, “…the divine is incarnated whenever we individually and collectively live by virtues like compassion, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, peace and nonviolence, caring and responsible stewardship, egalitarian justice for all, generosity, beneficence, magnanimity, etc.”

In our world today, just trying to live those virtues means embracing a protest mindset. Our lives must become a real-time, visual representative, and expression of these virtues.  Whether that means we hold a sign we made, sing a song, write a speech, bake some bread, crunch some numbers or raise some money, paint a mural, or as I like to do paint a painting.

The painting I brought with me today is one that speaks to everything I have talked about in this sermon.  The title of the piece is Incarnation: The Word Became Flesh.  I was asked by my last meeting’s fellowship committee to create a painting that would be a focal point for our Christmas season.  I am sure this was not what they were probably thinking. 

At the time, our Yearly Meeting in the Northwest was in the midst of a battle over same-sex marriage and I and our Meeting was trying hard to stay in the conversation and not get removed. We had several people in our Meeting who identified as LGBTQIA+ and I wanted them to know they were seen and heard through this piece of art. 

It was my way of protesting through art but also having those see who needed some hope.  I never explained the deeper meaning of this painting out loud to my Meeting, but in private conversations I shared the deeper meaning of love for all and hope for the world.  And today it helps me remember those words I shared earlier from my professor,

When these virtues live in us, it changes both our perspective and behavior. When we see and treat all reality as one, where we work for the good of all things (rather than from a position of competing interests and self-centeredness), then the divine has been incarnated… 

Now, as we enter a time of waiting worship, will you ponder with me the following queries:

·      Where do I recognize the Divine becoming real in the natural, banal, human, and secular?

·      Where do I struggle with treating all realities as one and work for the good of all things within my community?

·      What would it look like if I began thinking of my incarnation as a form of Divine protest art?

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?