Friends in San Antonio
7052 North Vandiver, San Antonio TX78209
May 2009
3 Sunday ..... Potluck lunch at 11.30. 10 Sunday .... Forum: Creating an intentional community of elders. 17 Sunday..... Meeting for Business. 24, Sunday.... Extended Meeting for Worship 7:30am – 11am Forum – Marcus Borg on the wise teachings of the historical Jesus 31, Sunday ... Forum – Marcus Borg, the inspiration and importance of historical study of the New Testament.
Each Thursday, at 4-5 pm, a silent peace vigil is held at the corners of S. Flores and Commerce, one block west of Main Plaza near City Hall.
Clerk: Bill Wilkinson 210)561-9360 e-mail: billwilk3@att.net.
Newsletter Editor: Ken Southwood, (210)828-1513; e-mail: jksouthwood@grandecom.net
Website: http://www.sanantonioquakers.org
Donations may be made to Friends Meeting of San Antonio, P.O. Box 6127, San Antonio TX 78209. Meeting telephone for meeting times or to ask for other information: (210) 945-8456
NPYM’s 2008 Minute on the War on DrugsAs an expression of our belief in nonviolence and the value of each person, Friends have throughout our history sought compassionate and effective answers to social problems.One of the most problematic federal policies for decades has been the federal government’s failed War on Drugs campaign. Its stated purpose has been to reduce the production, sale, and use of targeted drugs, the abuse of which can be devastating to individuals, families, workplaces, and communities. Yet, criminalization has failed to reduce drug abuse, has created a major illegal drug and secondary crime network, and has filled our prisons and courtrooms with individuals charged with drug-related crimes. . . We call for the implementation of a public health model as a sustainable and humane way to achieve the goal of reducing drug abuse in the United States. Such a model could utilize a tightly regulated distribution system for listed drugs. In such a system, drugs could be made available at reasonable prices in order to eliminate or reduce property and personal crime by those paying inflated prices from unlawful dealers. Access to drugs could be conditioned on drug counseling and treatment where abuse is indicated. Failure to comply with drug regulations could result in civil proceedings, including civil contempt for willful failure to comply with appropriate orders. With a portion of the resources resulting from reduced prison construction and operation cost, a major public education campaign could be undertaken regarding drug abuse similar to the campaign against tobacco use, along with enhanced treatment and prevention programs, which are now seriously under-funded. We also call for decriminalization of drug use and possession, though not production or sale, in order to end the injustice, the violence to property and persons, including those who are dually affected by mental illness and drug use, and the ineffective use of resources that are such a large part of our current system of drug control. We ask Friends in NPYM to reflect on the deep social costs of the “War on Drugs” policy and to join with others, including the Pacific Northwest office of the American Friends Service Committee, in promoting just and compassionate ways for our communities, states, and nation to address the important issue of drug abuse. We also ask that this minute be sent to all Yearly Meetings in the United States, to encourage Friends throughout the country to consider and act on this issue, and that copies of the minute be sent to all of our state and federal legislators. According to the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative:
(Abstracted from North Pacific Yearly Meeting’s minute, July, 2008).
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Personal NewsPam is in New Zealand. Here is how it was for her on April 1, Fools Day: “I had one of the worst ever clarinet lessons today. It's one of those lessons where everything that could possibly be bad, is. It starts out with you smoothly forgetting to do something that James asked you to do last week thanks to those stupid papers that have been monopolizing your time. Then, you start playing and everything you have worked on so meticulously in practice is suddenly not there. And you're thinking "Okay, so I'm just not warmed up." So you try to get into it but it's just not happening. All that hard work is gone and it's not coming back. It's the Godot of music. So now you look like a total slacker, even though you're not.”But by the 3rd: “My essays are complete and turned in, my crutches have been abandoned and given back to the health center. [She had had “a small laceration on the foot, no stitches needed.”] I am packed and ready to catch a bus to the airport at 4:45 in the morning (ick!) for my trip to the South Island. . . Possible activities include, glaciering, tramping, kayaking, white water rafting, horse back riding, bungee jumping (or watching bungee jumping), going on a LOTR tour, climbing the steepest street in the world (Baldwin St., Dunedin, 35% slope), and others. It's going to be fantastic.” No more. Is she still climbing the steepest street in the world? You can see her blog at www.atexaninauckland.blogspot.com. When Janet and Ken adopted a little black baby boy, Andrew, and a little American Indian baby girl, their family became multi-racial. Now, after Rebecca’s death, her son Jose’s guardians are Mexican American and East-Indian American and their family’s ethnic and racial variety has grown even more. You may remember that Janet was featured in Jeremy Deller’s Turner-prize-winning film at the Tate Modern in England a few years ago. Jonathan Jones, in the Guardian, criticizes the Tate for its dull choices. But, he says, “Last year, four boring artists fought it out in a boring exhibition. With certain exceptions, notably the great Jeremy Deller, too many Turners have been awarded to artists with rigorous practices and no imagination. Like that German painter and that guy with the shed boat. Oh look it's a shed. No, it's a boat. Amazing.” So Janet is still an acceptable feature. Lisa Kerpoe has a website, http://lisakerpoe.com. She is a fiber artist and facilitator. “Through her work, she strives to share her fascination with the beauty of our physical world and the mystery of our spiritual nature. Through her workshops, she strives to inspire others to tap into and express their creativity.” You can browse through her gallery, see her work, and contact her if you have questions or comments. Her work is beautiful. David B’s son Kyle and his wife, Katherine have built a lovely extension to David’s house. Asked where Kyle acquired his skills, both he and David said, “Not from Dad.” Dan H had surgery last Wednesday - “everything went well and continues to go well - some tenderness and some migration of blood (bruising), but I'm on track to take a trip next week to visit in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, etc. and to attend 50th high school reunion.” Rese now works in Colorado. The family may move there in a couple of years. But we don’t have to miss them yet. Andy McPhaul has returned to town and has found his work now makes it possible to attend meeting. Amy has finished the first three chapters of her dissertation and was told it should have more Aquinas. So, we’re sure, should we all. Karl Frey says, “For those interested, I have an art opening on First Friday (May 1st) in the ArteReyes Studio Space at Blue Star, 7-10pm. If you have a chance it would be great to see you there.” He quotes Goethe, “Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking,” and says: “I feel it is my obligation to provide the viewer with an experience that reflects not only on the psychology of the artist but also on the perceptual patterns of the culture. With my current works on paper I’m trying to play with ideas of interpretation. By combining real and imagined Rorschach blots and other suggestive but cryptic imagery I’m asking the viewer to question their own expectations when looking at Drawings. This work is not about interpreting what the artist intends but is about empowering the viewers to find their own playful narratives. My work fails if it is elitist; it fails if it is inaccessible. It succeeds when it is engaging and causes reflection on the very cultural process of seeing.” The Blue Star Arts Complex is on S. Alamo next to the San Antonio River. ArteReyes is on the second floor of the "B" building which is to the right of the Joan Grona and San Angel galleries and just over the stairway. Patricia, who left this meeting to work at Penn House in Washington DC some years ago, has left her work there. She has now gone to the other extreme, working on a farm on the Olympic Peninsula, east of Seattle, where she says she may see 2 or 3 cars on the way to work. “We stayed in my new apartment (the pellet stove wasn't working and it was cold!) on Saturday at Chimicum Woods, the rhododendron farm and had dinner with my new landlords/employers. I will be working each week here on the rhody farm to earn my rent. On Sunday we went up to Port Townsend for Meeting on Sunday and took the ferry to Seattle. I miss all of you, but I am also thrilled to be here, enjoying my new life. My body is sore, but it is a good kind of ache, one that I know will shift as the weeks go by. We start selling produce at the markets in May. I have been weeding strawberries and carrots. I am looking forward to the strawberries... Yum.” Lindsay is concerned about SB 1164, the bill in the TX legislature which would allow concealed guns on campuses as of September 1, 2009. She says, “In class on Wednesday, one of my students remarked that he looks forward to his 21st birthday, when he will apply for a CHL (concealed handgun license). He said, ‘if someone had a gun at Virginia Tech, that shooter could have been stopped.’" Presumably the ones who intend to shoot somebody could conceal their weapons as well. The West may get Wilder. Neil R’s submission was not successful at the State Science Fair. But he got a Silver Medal and $750 at the International Sustainable World Project Olympiad. Congratulations, Neil! We met little Nadia in the children’s room, who could spell her name and told me her brother’s name was Aidan, which is Nadia spelled backwards. Or perhaps she said Nadia was Aidan spelled backwards. She told us with a beautiful smile.
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May ForumsCarol B will introduce “A Spirit-Led Conversation to Explore Ways for Quaker Elders to Live in Intentional Community.”This is a topic for everyone, including those of us who consider ourselves elders and those who plan to become elders. We will tenderly explore the issues of aging and remaining independent, while being realistic about how our physical resources will inevitably change as we begin to achieve old age. How can we continue to grow in active spiritual community while maintaining a good balance between independence and cooperative living? This forum will not offer answers but will seek possible future directions for our Meeting in addressing our concerns about aging. The conversation will be a kitchen-side chat held in the common room and facilitated by Carol B, who considers herself a rookie elder. In two other forums this month Ken will speak about Marcus Borg’s account of “the historical Jesus.” Borg describes scholarly work done over the past two centuries and particularly the last decades of the 20th century. He distinguishes the “pre-Easter Jesus,” the historical Jesus he and other scholars have striven to identify, from the “post-Easter Jesus,” the Jesus of Christian faith which developed in the centuries after his death on the cross. There is a remarkable degree of agreement among the scholars. But what is remarkable in Borg’s account is the closeness of the historical Jesus he identifies with present-day Quaker emphasis and practice. On May 24 we will consider Jesus’s environment in an exploitative Jewish society typical of agrarian economies, his subversive messages about patriarchal male domination and a “purity-stratified” society, and our modern windows into his world. On May 31 we will consider Borg’s current reasons for continued evangelism (outreach!), Jesus as a God-intoxicated Jew, mystic and healer, a “wisdom teacher,” his substitution of “compassion” for Jewish “holiness,” some views of the Jesus seminar, and why knowledge of the historical Jesus is, while not necessary, importantly useful.
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Green Tips(excerpted from information from the Union of Concerned Scientists).Unlike typical plastics made from crude oil, “bioplastics” are often made from plant matter such as cornstarch, potato starch, cane sugar, and soy protein. A potentially renewable alternative to petroleum-based plastics would have the long-term benefits of reducing global warming pollution and our dependence on fossil fuels, but do bioplastics fit the bill? As they become more ubiquitous—in the form of grocery bags and disposable plates, food containers, and cutlery—numerous concerns have been raised about their true value:
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The Search for the Perfect Bumper StickerBill O says, “Yearly Meeting is such a delight, and especially if I could make a contribution at the “Talent Night.” Other than playing my nose, (and I really did consider doing that), I decided to put my sociology degree to use, and, at the same time, renew a long lost SCYM tradition – that no one knew about.I was inspired by another Friend’s simple survey of license plates, along with a bit of commentary that he did ‘lo many years ago (12-16 years, I would say). That Friend no longer attends yearly meeting, so I feel the need to carry on the “tradition.” Bravely, and at the risk of looking like a government informant, I set off into the parking lot at Greene Family Camp, searching for Quaker cars. Which cars were Quaker? I was not sure, but I surmised that if they were there, then they must be “ours.” That was easy! Raw statistics: 75 vehicles, including cars, trucks, and possibly one SUV, but more about that later, and one huge camper/van/bus. 198 people, from 16 months to 92 years. Prius/hybrid: 4 (About 5% of the total ) Mercedes: 2; Pickup: 2; SUV: Quakers don’t drive them, or usually not for other Quakers to see. Bumper stickers:
FCNL: 7 AFSC: 3 QUAKER: 2Well, there are at least 12 Quakers here!
OBAMA: 12; No Border Wall: 6; Some unique favorites that I would like to share here, as I did at the “Talent Night.” In keeping with our military theme, I saw “Support our troops, Impeach Bush.” “Coexist,” with each letter represented with the appropriate religious symbol from that religion. Definitely a precocious Quaker family/student that says, “My Red Healer is smarter than your honor student.” One person seemed to have the unspoken answer to the border wall construction and controversy. They grouped two bumper stickers together: “No Border Wall” was positioned above “Trees are the answer.” I was inspired to call my representatives in Washington, D.C.! My personal favorite was the difficult and ecumenical, “God Bless the whole world; no exceptions.” I look forward to putting my sociology degree to good use next year!”
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From AFSCSandy Springs Friends School students work in West Virginia. “If a lot of people do a little, it can make things better for people.”That was the reaction of a Friends School student on a work trip to an AFSC-sponsored program in West Virginia’s Logan County this past month. I think it sums up what we at the American Friends Service Committee do daily: many people working in small ways to improve the world. And we’re seeing results. Our work building relationships in China has led the government there to ask us to develop and lead a conference in conflict resolution. In Zimbabwe, we train residents to rebuild livelihoods disrupted by violence. This month, you’ll see our spirit in stories about a Kansas City dinner where Iraqis and veterans of the Iraq War broke bread and talked; the U.S.-China Peace Forum, where Chinese officials met with their counterparts here; Sandy Spring Friends School and its continued commitment to work in West Virginia ; and work to build new opportunities in Zimbabwe. Our core values are peace, social justice, and human dignity. Every day, around the world, your support allows us to bring those values closer to reality for everyone. Thank you! Peace, Mary Ellen McNish, General Secretary
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Surviving Jena SixMy name is Mychal Bell and I was one of the Jena Six that was charged with attempted murder down in Jena, Louisiana in 2006. As of now, seeing that we have a black president, and with the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. tomorrow, I wanted to share with you my dream like Dr. King shared his dream with everybody. . .When I look back at the day that I got in a fight with Justin Barker at my high school, I now realize that I should have done what Dr. King preached, which was non-violence. A few months before the fight, I remember seeing nooses hung from a tree at my school . . . But, what came to my mind was images of Mississippi burning, seeing how black people were hung and killed . . . In the small town that I grew up in, I had always felt that black people and white people didn't get along. After all, this was Louisiana. When I first entered prison, I was young, only 16, and I had been charged as an adult with attempted murder for the fight. . . I spent over a year in prison, before I took a plea bargain in juvenile court for a simple battery and was given time served and sent home. Since that time, my life hasn't been easy. . . The media pushed me to a point where I tried to kill myself, which I didn't want to do, but that incident has made me a stronger person, and now I can finally see my dream in front of me. On May 13th I will graduate from high school and in the fall I will attend a four-year university on a football scholarship. As me being a young black man I know that Dr. King died for me, so I can be in the position that I am, to become anything I want in life. Mychal Bell, The Global Grind 03 April 2009
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Uses for the MeetinghouseBill Martin, of the Natura Christian Fellowship, a nudist group, says the Quaker church has had nudist camps for 65 years. He said he follows the Quaker faith; the Natura group was originally a Quaker-based group. In 1648, he said, many Quakers created a sect that followed the teachings in the book of Isaiah, suggesting three years of nudity in order to proselytize. But he said Natura dropped the Quaker statement in the group’s description because they were attracting so many Catholics, Southern Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and more. Now, he said, they simply call themselves Christians.Perhaps we should take the tip.
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The MeetinghouseWe have received two framed awards, to Lake|Flato Architects, for their design of the meetinghouse. One is from the American Institute of Architects, San Antonio Branch, and the other from the Texas Society of Architects. A group from the Architects Research Center Consortium visited the meetinghouse on April 17.Bob Harris is the architect who designed the meetingroom (Ted Flato, with Bob’s assistance, designed the rest of the meetinghouse.) Bob tells us that a man he knows, who did not know he had done this, told him that he had been having difficulties with his teenage son. He found that his son was coming to the meetinghouse to think things over. He joined him, Bob thought to sit together in the meetingroom, and he said they had wonderful exchanges there. Ken was “the principal contact with our architects. So when a group of 60 or so architects came to San Antonio for a conference and did a tour of San Antonio architecture, they were given my name and number for the meetinghouse. I assumed they would have all kinds of technical questions so I told Bob Harris of the visit. But on the day he was not there and I faced all kinds of questions. Fortunately the only technical question was “What kind of wood are the meetingroom slats?” Cedar. The other questions were focused on our needs. “Why is the room square?” Is the orientation of the building significant?” “Why are the benches in this pattern?” “What is the significance of the courtyard, the large window?” “What do we do when we come and sit silently?” “What is it like when people speak during the silence?” I did my best (and would like to see them all again to be more clear,) with a bit of history, explaining the focus on the spirit rather than the written word, and “It’s just a room, not a sanctuary.” As they left a young woman came up to me and said she was Muslim, but she would feel comfortable worshiping with us in our meeting. I was happy she could worship Allah without any theological or ritual constraints from our meeting.”
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Anthony BenezetTwo new books have been published about Anthony Benezet, headlined in a NYT review as “The Admirable Quaker” and in the title of one as “Father of Atlantic Abolitionism.” He was born Huguenot in France and came to prominence in the anti-slavery movement in Philadelphia. Nathan Goodman, in the NYT, says, “. . . one must search far in our history to find a character comparable in soul and spirit.”At a time of overwhelming prejudice, he said, “I can with truth and sincerity declare that I have found amongst the Negroes as great a variety of talents as among a like number of whites..” He accused their “lordly masters” of having “kept their slaves at such a distance as to be unable to form a right judgment of them.” The books are Friend Anthony Benezet, by George R. Brooks, and Let This Voice be Heard, by Maurice Jackson.
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Meeting LibraryThe following books have been bought for the library:1. Janet Scott: What Canst Thou Say? 2. John Punshon: Encounter with Silence 3. Paul Rasor: Faith without Certainty 4. Quaker Quest: Twelve Quakers and Pacifism 5. Paul Lacey: The Authority of Our Meetings is the Power of God 6. Lloyd Lee Wilson: Wrestling with our Faith Tradition 7. Deborah Fisch: Being Faithful as Friends 8. Margery Post Abbott: Quaker Views on Mysticism 9. J. Brent Bill: Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment 10. Margery Post Abbott, Pink Dandelion, et al.: The A to Z of the Friends 11. Paul Lacey: Nourishing the Spiritual Life 12. Ben Pink Dandelion: Convinced Quakerism 13. Geoffrey Hubbard: Quaker by Convincement
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New FoundationGail Collins, the NYT, quoted Barack Obama as building on a new foundation and wondered if this would be his signature phrase. She hoped not: “‘New Foundation’ has a rather dreary ring, calling up visions of an unfinished basement. Secondly, there already are several New Foundations out there, including one for Quakers and one for teenage substance abusers in Arizona.”The Quaker New Foundation is a closely biblical group of Friends. This is selected from their website:
“Among us Christ is King and we wait to know and then do His bidding. Christ is our minister of the new covenant. He it is that brings us the words of Life and breathes into us the breath of Life that we may become Living beings. We are all fellow-partakers of His Bread of Life.” Are they quoting George Fox? We could not find any such text. But their choice of these words shows the difference between us.
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FlyWords mock you,short, squat bird. We have no hope ever to know your heart ever to know your pain.
Red sun sinks in the west.
Fly to the silver rain.
With silver rain you fly.
Fly where we cannot go
Senseless the way we live
Fly past our blinding pain. Mark
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Undocumented Female WorkersLast year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed about 160 mostly undocumented female workers from Action Rags, a used clothing and rag exporting factory in East Houston . What does society gain from imprisoning working women, wives, mothers and sisters who are not criminals? As usual, there have been NO arrests of Action Rags or Shipley managers or company officials and ICE has not provided details of any sort of criminal investigation against the company.As the President of the Migration Policy Institute states: It's much easier and gets more headlines to arrest a lot of people. To make a case against an employer requires time and significant investments of investigative resources. Sometimes it takes half a year or a year. We hope for a very different policy.
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April Business MeetingNegotiations for the purchase of the commercial building in front of the meetinghouse are continuing. A contract has been drawn up but needs some changes. A corporation meeting has been called following the May business meeting but it may be necessary to call one every other week in order to be able to authorize quick trustee action.At Yearly Meeting a group got together to arrange Quarterly Meeting. It will be held at Austin, following a pattern similar to the one followed here. Quarterly is responsible for proposing the next Yearly program. The Ministry and Oversight report spoke of renewed energy in Meeting from committees and individuals following their leadings and finding satisfaction in doing so. Meeting has had an inquiry as to whether the meeting room could be booked on Sunday evenings each week. We readily approved this except for the possibility of our wanting to use the room ourselves. Given this understanding we would assure them that we would give them as much notice as possible and offer them the use of the common room if available. We are keen the meetinghouse should be used to the fullest. A Friend wondered whether it would be good to invite the local Neighborhood Association to meet at the meetinghouse, maybe just annually as a show of hospitality. We need more information about the group and whether some Friends are already involved. We have a rocking chair. This, perhaps, is to be used by a mother and baby, someone wanting a reading time in the library, etc. It was ordered as an expression of loving care for Janet and Ken’s grandson, Jose, whose mother had died, and for anyone needing the comfort of a quiet rocking time. Friends who want to be involved in this purchase may give a small donation to our treasurer, Carol B. If there is any surplus money it will be given to the Children’s Bereavement Center of South Texas. P&SC gave its annual report, including the EWO display at the Alamo. It is considering a flyer with information for people needing help as to where food, shelter, etc., may be obtained. It is alert for modifications to the Meeting website. Carol R has been asked by St. Mary’s University to compile information about non-profit service organizations here. The committee will be able to help in this. The committee still has a display for schools providing alternatives to military service. Contact Carol R to obtain this display. Carol B gave the Treasurer’s report. The Finance Committee has met to review the budget. To offset increased expenses and possible decreases in income it recommends a reduction of $1,000 each in Miscellaneous expenses and in Grounds Maintenance. These are expected to produce no hardship. In the first quarter income has exceeded expenditures by $671. The committee will continue to watch carefully. Outreach reported that we now have a display of 22 photos of regular attenders at meeting on a board outside the commonroom. Marian Carter will take photos of people not yet included, with Jim Spickard’s help. We held a craft show in March. Few people came but we were able to see Jim Spickard’s beautiful photographs, Sharon’s ceramic polar bear, and Neil Redfield’s science project display. Crystal Redfield showed her diorama and Carolyn Day her drawings. It was fun for those present. We are arranging a picnic on Saturday May 16, 11 a.m., at Guadalupe State Park, where the river is an attraction. Information and signup sheets will be circulated before the day. We will plan for a children’s party in the Fall. Outreach Committee agrees with M&O that permission to use the meeting room each Sunday evening is reasonable given that if we want to use the room ourselves we should give them as much notice as possible and if possible offer the use of the Common Room. Bill O had no report for the Building Committee but Bill W noted that he had provided a standup comic act for Yearly Meeting. He declined to repeat this.
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Bric a Brac“If Moses had been a committee the Israelites would still be in Egypt.”
“Nowadays medals should be awarded first and foremost for bravery before your friends.”
“Frontiers between people are not frontiers which can divide Christian communities, and, according to God’s will, there are meant to be no walls of separation in the midst of mankind, which belongs to God. That is why we want to testify in the world, and to proclaim when people ask where they should go. We must finally come towards each other, rather than marching against each other.”
From Friends Journal July 13 1957.
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Advice for MayThe meeting must be at heart a spiritual quest and the people who are members must be seekers after the life of the spirit. This doesn’t mean that they will do nothing else, but, everything else should be grounded in this spiritual seeking. |