6 Sunday ...... Potluck lunch at 11.30. 13, Sunday..... Forum – Chaps 8-9 of Chuck Fager’s Without Apology. 20, Sunday..... Forum – furnishing of the meetingroom. No Meeting for Business. 27, Sunday .... Forum – "Socially Responsible Investing and Promoting Social Responsibility in Corporations", Susan Mika, Director of the Socially Responsible Investing Coalition (SRIC). September: 3 Sunday ...... Potluck lunch at 11.30. 10, Sunday..... Forum – Chaps 10-end of Chuck Fager’s Without Apology. 17, Sunday..... Meeting for Business. 24, Sunday .... Forum – A member of the Reformed Congregation of the Goddess will discuss their beliefs, practices, and experience.
Each Thursday, at 4-5 pm, a silent peace vigil is held at the NE corner of Main Plaza (Commerce and Dwyer or Commerce and Soledad, which is the same thing) near the San Fernando cathedral.
Clerk: Val Liveoak, e-mail: valliveoakATjunoDOTcom
Newsletter Editor: Ken Southwood, 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
ABOU BEN ADHEM (May his tribe increase!) |
Gaza, Lebanon, and Israel“‘War is not the answer, and peace is possible through peaceful means.’ Watching the strife, the suffering and the killing this past week on TV brought those thoughts to mind. The rocket attacks, the violent reprisals against civilians, the bombings, the capture of soldiers, and who knows what will be next, all these could persuade anyone that war is inevitable and that peace will never be possible. We share the grief of so many others around the world who are watching these tragedies unfold. At the same time, I feel strongly that as we see the consequences of the warring between Israel and its neighbors unfold, we can also see a compelling argument for peace. This latest cycle of violent attacks and reprisals is the best evidence that war is not the answer and that what is needed is a cease-fire and peacebuilding. In April, I traveled with a small delegation of church leaders especially to visit with Christian communities in Syria, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank. We made it a point to visit Israel too. My previous visits to the Middle East in 1975, 1979, 1989, and 2004 had included visits to Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan. The Middle East – its peoples, culture, and land – captivate almost any visitor, and you can’t help but build bonds of lasting relationship there. In Damascus, we joined the 60th anniversary celebration of the Orthodox Sunday School Movement. In East Jerusalem, we walked in the Maundy Thursday procession. In Bethlehem, we saw the remarkable community development work centered at the International Church Center. In Ramallah, we visited the new Quaker Peace Center at the Friends Meetinghouse. And, of course, all along the way on this trip we made opportunities to visit with Muslim and Jewish communities and to meet with government and military officials. As on my past trips to the Middle East, I saw and experienced evidence of a general admiration of and friendship with the people of the United States. One common theme I heard during this trip was that the United States is needed as a leader of diplomatic initiatives and negotiations for peace in this troubled region and that the U.S. needs to be able to engage with all the different parties to the conflict. But, we were told, the U.S. has cut itself off from the possibility of playing the role of peacemaker because it has closed openings to Syria, to Hamas, to Hezbollah, and because the U.S. war and occupation in Iraq is troubling the entire region. The U.S. position that some people are evil and that this country “will not compromise with evil” has resulted in the isolation of the U.S. from the Middle East and is fueling a rather small, but now growing, anti-U.S. movement there. Demonization of strangers – rather than of conduct – has hamstrung the U.S. government. With that approach, the U.S. has not only become helpless but also has become a problem. It has lost the ability to act as a good-faith broker of peace among the several parties to the conflicts, and it has become perceived as another party to the conflicts. The U.S. administration and Congress don’t see this. Their blindness on this point could spur a downward spiral of conflict, the scope of which could spread across the Middle East and beyond. It is not too late to change course. The administration and Congress could return to a role of honest broker in the Middle East, although amid much well-earned skepticism. By setting aside the simplistic “good people and evil people” construction of the world, by calling on all parties to stop fighting and to start talking, by working with the international community to create strong peacekeeping missions to prevent outbreaks of violence, and by returning to the rule of law, the U.S. government could save lives and begin again to build peace in the holy land. We at FCNL hope too that our government might lead the way to a high point from which we can see that every person is a holy place and where the Holy Land does not belong to any one people but where all people belong to the land. The principles for a sustainable Israeli-Palestinian peace remain the same as ever:
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An AFSC AppealJuly 21, 2006“We view the unfolding tragedy in the Middle East with moral and spiritual repugnance. The destruction of precious human lives must end immediately. We mourn the loss of life in Lebanon, Gaza, and Israel and we affirm the courage of those who daily face the devastation of war. We stand with the people who will live to endure war’s physical and psychological damage. We affirm the right of all people in the region to live in peace and security. Military action only encourages future violence as hearts are hardened and voices of conciliation are shouted down. . .” AFSC then calls for: The ending of violence immediately and unconditionally. The United States Government to act at the highest level to bring about an immediate ceasefire and to create an appropriate environment for negotiations. The international community to use their good offices to secure a ceasefire, and put in place a mechanism that can help preserve peace. All countries, including the United States, to stop sales and transfers of arms to the region. The State of Lebanon to gain control of its own territory and sovereignty. The leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas to end their missile bombardments of Israeli civilians. The Government of Israel to cease immediately its attacks on Lebanon, to pull its forces out of Gaza, to re-open points of entry to the Gaza Strip and to allow the free flow of desperately needed food, medicines, and other humanitarian supplies. “Neither Israel's sustained attacks against civilian populations in Gaza and Lebanon, nor Hezbollah's rocket attacks against civilian targets in Israel, can be justified on the grounds of self-defense. A real and enduring peace for all people of the region will come only from a rejection of violence and a framework for regional and shared security.”
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July Meeting for BusinessMeeting opened with silent worship.The treasurer was not able to prepare a report for June due to late posting of the accounting. So, the reports for June, July, and August will be presented at the September meeting for business. The clerk of Ministry and Oversight reported that the members of the Re-formed Congregation of the Goddess are delighted to use the meeting room, which they consider to be a peaceful and worshipful space, close to nature. They will continue agreements regarding the use of candles and restrict refreshments in the meeting room itself. They expect to use the meeting room about nine Thursday evenings a year and will have potlucks in the multipurpose room or on the patio on the other three Thursdays. Friends questioned whether permission to use candles ought to be explicit in the committee’s report. Friends agreed that allowing the Re-formed Congregation to use candles did not set a precedent for all future groups. Discussions have begun with the Indian musicians wishing to use the meeting house. They are pleased to be welcomed and understand the necessary restrictions. They do not expect to meet until the Fall. The Building, Ministry and Oversight and Outreach Committees will develop guidelines for use of the property. The Adult Education Committee will be consulted on whether the discussions of Chuck Fager’s book Without Apology ought to continue to be held during Forum time rather than at 9:00 AM, as that time seems to suit more people. Friends are reminded that they are entering a meeting for worship already in progress if they arrive after 10:00 AM. St. Louis Meeting has a project under its care to assist members of the Lakota tribe with the replacement of housing damaged by recent storms. The project has issued an emergency appeal for funds. A friend has committed up to a $100 donation within the next week if Peace and Social Concerns cannot take action. If the committee can take action, the generous friend will be notified by the Clerk of Meeting. The clerk of the ad hoc committee on Assistive Listening Systems presented an estimate from Heffeman Audio Visual, to install a tele-coil/loop system.. The total would be either $4,338 or $4,922, depending on the microphone selected. This is considerably more than the committee had expected. The bid did not include headphones for those without tele-coil equipped hearing aids. One committee member did express reservations and suggested that members and attenders instead be reminded to speak audibly and clearly during meeting. However, the committee was reluctant to ask those offering ministry to speak up. The ad hoc committee will continue to investigate the difference between the microphones, and whether eight or six are needed. The committee will also try to find a small hall with the system already installed to evaluate it. A report and recommendation by the ad hoc committee will be delivered at the September meeting for business. Friends felt that the system is needed and should be pursued, and that funds should be made available. A Friend noted that it will probably not be necessary to use the furnishings fund, even if the preliminary costs are higher than expected.
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Friendly Science Fiction“It is interesting to note that references to Quakers in science fiction/fantasy literature are fairly common given the relatively small number of Quakers in the world. There are more significant works of science fiction about Quakers, or with significant references to Quakers, than there are to many much larger denominations, such as Presbyterians, Methodists, or Lutherans.One reason why Quakers have been written about more frequently than some other groups is that they have historically had many distinctive cultural and theological characteristics which have distinguished them from other Protestant denominations. This remains true even today, at a time when most writers can detect no differences worth mentioning between mainstream Protestant groups. Such Quaker traits as their well-known pacifism and emphasis on "inner light" have caught the imagination on many writers. Quaker pacifism, especially, has been used as an interesting plot point and source of compelling literature, as writers have thrust Quaker-based groups into situations in which an armed defense would be the normal solution. Science fiction writers may also be drawn to Quakers as subjects because of the long history among Quakers of openness to scientific thought, and the impressive accomplishments of Quaker scientists (such as John Dalton and Joseph Lister). There are examples of highly positive attitudes toward science among some other religious groups, such as Jews, Latter-day Saints, Unitarians, and (in certain periods and places) Catholics and Muslims. But a culture of people actively religious while simultaneously actively pro-science has been less common among Protestant groups. Finally, Quakers have a strong literary tradition, a deep appreciation of education, and no theological proscriptions against writing science fiction. These factors have produced some strong Quaker fiction writers, and even a few Quaker science fiction writers, such as the early science fiction grandmaster Olaf Stapledon. Best-selling fantasy writer Piers Anthony was raised in a devout Quaker family. Also, at least two adult writers have converted to Quakerism and subsequently used Quakers as subject matter in their fiction: Joan Slonczewski and David Morse.” From http://www.adherents.com/lit/sf_quaker.html Such fiction could well be interesting for teens bored with conventional Quaker literature.
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A life, the universes, and everything“How did the human mind arise from the primordial soup of electrons and protons created more than 13 billion years ago in the Big Bang? How did our species reach a point where we can even contemplate this question?‘It's a truly mind-boggling thing,’ Professor George Ellis, an acclaimed mathematician from South Africa and co-author with Stephen Hawking of a book on the nature of time and space, told an audience of more than 280 at the Australian Academy of Science last week. Ellis, a Quaker who likes the religion's combination of spirituality and social activism, was a recipient, like Davies, of a Templeton Prize for his work on science and religion. He has no concerns that trying to find scientific answers to big questions such as these will diminish a deeper appreciation of the beauty of the natural world. ‘I think we can keep that sense of wonder, even with our scientific understanding of what is going on.’” Sydney Morning Herald 28
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Pastoral Care, a TaleA woman Friends pastor was called to the hospital bed of a church member by the member’s wife. While the two women prayed by the bed, a man and a woman in white hospital coats came to examine the comatose patient. “He’s dying,” said the man, “You might want to call your pastor.”“Our pastor’s here,” said the patient’s wife. A few minutes later, the same thing happened again: two more hospital staff came in and suggested that the pastor be called, and ignored the response. By this time, the woman pastor was getting very upset, and decided not to let such sexist slights be passed unmarked. So when the first two staffers came in and went through the same routine a third time, she stepped forward and tapped the man on the shoulder. “Excuse me, doctor,” she said, “but I am the pastor.” The man pointed to his colleague. “Sorry, lady,” he said, “She’s the doctor. I’m the nurse.” From Quaker House Newsletter, Fayetteville, N.C.
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Pendle HillAbout 9 miles west of the center of Philadelphia, Pendle Hill is the principal Quaker center for spiritual growth, study and service, on 23 acres of peaceful campus.This fall and winter it will be offering a wide variety of courses and retreats, on:
Most of these are for weekends, some are for weeks. They are led by a variety of Friends and others, including Mary Lord, John Calvi, George Lakey, Arthur Larrabee, and our own Val Liveoak, who will cover AVP. To see the complete descriptions and calendar, go to www.pendlehill.org or see the pamphlet in the meetingroom lobby.
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EventsJude, of Austin Meeting, held a meeting of the Centex Carcinoid Cancer Support Group in our meetinghouse in July. She says they cover the whole central Texas area, but are trying to start a San Antonio support group both to make it easier to access (They had a member from Boerne, for example) and to increase knowledge and understanding about the condition. San Antonio's such a big town that there are probably enough people with the diagnosis to support a group like Dallas' (35 people at a meeting), but few people feel connected.If the group is large enough they may wish to continue meeting here.
The Spanish Language A student asked, ‘What gender is 'computer'?’ Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether ‘computer’ should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The men's group decided that ‘computer’ should definitely be of the feminine gender (‘la
computadora’), because: (THIS GETS BETTER!)
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine (‘el computador’),
because: The women won. [Quaker husbands note – this came to us from a Quaker wife.]
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Nuclear Arms for IndiaWASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney Thursday urged senior lawmakers to help win congressional support for a controversial U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement . . . Meanwhile, Rep. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who co-chairs the Bipartisan Task Force on Non-proliferation, launched a grass-roots campaign with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a peace lobby, to defeat the deal. (Reuters, June 23, 2006)
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U. S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence?Congressman Kucinich, with 59 co-sponsors have introduced a bill, H.R. 3760, to 9 establish such a department. This would be at cabinet-level with its own Secretary, and have a mission which holds peace as an organizing principle. Its aim would be to “raise prevention of domestic and international conflict, and working for nonviolent resolutions to conflict to the same or higher level of governmental priority as violent or repressive responses.”It would have a proactive approach to conflict prevention and nonviolent intervention. It would have an Office of Peace Education to develop and implement curricula for instructing students in peaceful conflict management skills. It would also found a Peace Academy equivalent to the military academies.
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InspirationOnce in the 1850s, an Ohio Friend was returning by train from an abolitionist convention, when a group of ministers from Kentucky boarded his car. One of them, noting the Friend’s plain garb and guessing his anti-slavery convictions, began to bait him: “Are you one of those Quakers who want to free all the niggers? he demanded. The Friend nodded affirmatively.“Well, then,” badgered the minister, “why do you preach your anti-slavery doctrines up here in Ohio? Why don’t you come try it over in Kentucky?” The Friend was tired and a little out of sorts, so he responded with a question of his own: “Is thee a preacher?” he asked. The other said he was. “And does thee want to save souls from hell?” the Friends continued. Yes, the minister allowed that he did. “Well, then,” the Friend concluded wearily, “Why doesn’t thee go there?” Would this be an appropriate nonviolent answer? This story is from Santa Cruz Meeting’s newsletter.
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Charles Gibson, ABC Anchor“Charles Gibson is still getting used to the idea of being in charge. . . As a substitute anchor, ‘it was a little bit like being a grandparent: You could play with the baby and enjoy it and have a terrific time, and if you screwed up, you were always going to be able to give the kid back,’ he said on a recent afternoon on the set in the bustling newsroom. Now, ‘if I screw it up, I've got to fix it.’For one thing, the program's staff now looks to him for the final word on what should go in the broadcast. Gibson - a product of Quaker education who still occasionally attends worship meetings - said he's more accustomed to that faith's tradition of group decision-making. ‘In meetings, we're sort of sitting around and I think we've reached consensus and everybody turns to me and says, 'OK, what are you going to do?'’ he said. ‘I'm beginning to find out that one guy is more equal than others.’ “
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PersonalFrances and Karl are having a baby! Well, Frances has it right now. She will hand it to Karl in December. Leila will hand her baby to Scott in September. Benjamin and Jana have been transferred to Korea. Jana has been in Frankfurt, caring for wounded servicemen. Benjamin’s 10 mother, Marge, from Providence Meeting, visited with us during July.The children of Frances late of this Meeting, are celebrating in Meeker, Colorado with friends and family July 22 to honor Frances' 90th year and the 30th anniversary of Brown's Palace, Frances’s home up in the mountains. Julie and Michael, who moved to Austin some years ago, have acquired a Sphinx hairless cat with large yellow eyes, large ears, and wrinkles. It’s called Streaker. It has a distinctly ancient Egyptian look about it. What worries have produced that furrowed brow, we wonder? Gayle tells us, “I have recently completed a two-year course in Sacred Service through the School of Spiritual Psychology in North Carolina. It is an intensive course that provides inner training focusing on deepening the understanding and practice of service, fostering the soul life in serving, and developing the abilities needed to be of service in the world as practical spiritual work. We learned to work deeply in the Silence, and through heart meditations, as well as using two labyrinths (one a Chartres labyrinth) as ancient tools of inner transformation, especially while doing "shadow" work. It was a profound, experiential course, culminating in an intensive week-long course for the graduates called, "Money as Spiritual Practice." This graduate course focused on the challenges of living a spiritual life in a material world - as timely now as when monasteries were established in the Middle Ages to deal with the same problem. I can now call myself a Sacred Servant (although one of my fellow student's employees thought we were working with the Secret Service, and often in our written work we discovered that the seemingly accidental typo comes up: scared service! Deep soul work can be hard).” Ginger and Jim are involved in organizing “The Kansas City Sabeel Conference. . . a twoday educational and advocacy conference on the conflict in Palestine-Israel and how it impacts our Christian brothers and sisters kin the land of Jesus’ birth. . . Sabeel . . . believes justice is served by following the Gospel teachings on compassion and non-violence and by promoting human rights, international law, and democratic principles.” Jude of Austin Meeting has a book recommendation. She says, “The new Vonnegut book . . is ‘A Man Without A Country’. It's a little book with his own illustrations. I liked it a lot. Here's what Amazon's reviewer said: ‘There is no reason good can’t triumph over evil, if only angels will get organized along the lines of the mafia.’ So defines the tough and tender spirit behind literary grandmaster Kurt Vonnegut’s first major book in nearly a decade. A Man Without a Country takes an unflinching look at the State of the Nation, veering wildly through our cultural and political landscape to reveal the hilarity—and the tragedy—of modern American life.” Something we missed, from Sal DiGiacomo: “Recently returned from Costa Rica - helped save turtles in Parasima on the Caribbean coast and even went to the Quaker Monteverde cloud forest in the central highlands. The Quaker meeting there gets over 100, but I think mostly ecotourists. Their dairy is quite famous and I assume that you and Ken have been there or plan to go some time. It is a nice trip and a great country with no armed forces!” Kyle writes hoping all is well with everyone in the San Antonio Meeting. He was returning to Newark from South Africa. He says, “The NY Times ran a story this past Sunday about the U.S. government increasing the number of bombs it is releasing to Israel. In light of what is going on in the Middle East now, I find this disturbing. Upon my return to the U.S. later this week I plan to send notes to various elected officials re my disappointment in all of this. Wondering if the SA Meeting is doing anything on this issue as well?” Marian, one Friday morning, found a homeless man sleeping on the bench outside the meetingroom. He woke and explained that he had work and expected to get an apartment soon. She opened one of the restrooms for him and soon he left.
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AVP in Bolivia and ColombiaVal has returned from Colombia and Bolivia, where she has been co-facilitating Alternatives to Violence Project workshops for Friends Peace Teams (in Colombia) and Bolivia Quaker Education Fund. At a Forum she described the situations.In Bolivia there are 40,000 Quakers, mostly poor Aymara Indians. There are three yearly meetings of different Quaker persuasions. Unlike some Central American yearly meetings, they are concerned with social issues. Many mountain Aymaras have come into the cities where they face a competitive situation and generational conflicts. In Bolivia, violence and authoritarianism are the “solution” to many problems. The Bolivian participants liked AVP because it is egalitarian, friendly, and appealing. The workshops seemed to be successful, and 9 Bolivians are now prepared to co-facilitate Basic AVP workshops. In Colombia the army, paramilitaries, criminals, and guerrillas are often indistinguishable to suffering smallholders in the north, many of whom have been or are being forced off their land by large landowners’ private armies, and/or the sporadic violence caused by the presence of one or more of the armed groups. The “good guys” are the peaceful, the “bad guys” the rest, whatever their label. 4-6 former AVP participants wish to continue AVP and finished the training needed to facilitate workshops themselves. They have a grant from the World Council of Churches. People are hungry for nonviolent answers. Val and her co-worker, Audrey from Santa Fe Monthly Meeting worked with three groups in Colombia, one with Catholic lay workers and a few Protestants—the first ecumenical activity in that region, one with people who are from displaced peoples’ communities, and one in Bogota. The workshops seemed to be successful and 30 people finished Training for Facilitators workshops. To questions as to whether the AVP programs are culturally appropriate in such countries, Val replied that the people there must have the opportunity to make up their own minds as to that, and that so far, participants have said that AVP gives them hope and tools to deal with the violence they face daily. In both countries there are problems for conscientious objectors. Without a Colombian certificate of military service it is difficult for a young man to get further education or employment with Colombian companies. For the rich is it possible to buy one for $250. When a law permitted exemption for those who had attended a seminary, the Mennonites started a seminary for their young men. In Bolivia it is another area of generational conflict as young men decide to enter the military over their Quaker parents’ objections, because they also need to have proof of service for higher education and employment in professional jobs.
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What is Terrorism?Webster defines terrorism as “the systematic use of terror, esp. as a means of coercion.” Terror is defined as a “state of intense fear,” but it also has a specific definition as “violence committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands.” There is no definition of the term to denote use of terror specifically by governments, though it is clear that governments have used terror in the defined sense to intimidate a population, both their own or another, as in times of war.Using Webster’s definition, not only capital punishment but imprisonment are forms of terrorism. Governments would not accept this definition but insurgents, lacking prisons, often regard their own violent acts as punishment. In addition, insurgents’ aims include advertizing their own dedication, courage, and capability and inciting the government to react overpunitively 12 in order to build their movement beyond the “terrorist” stage. To this end, they welcome - governmental reaction which angers the population. Insurgents are limited in their freedom to move and in their resources. Having determined to fight for their goals, surprise attacks on unprotected targets by shadowy people undistinguishable from the general population become the available tactic. Thus, bombs, assassinations, and kidnapings become the recognized signs of “terrorism.” Governments use tactics such as houseto- house searches, roadblocks, armored cars, police or army shootouts, air attacks, and demolition. These have all the trappings of law and government and, even if intended to cause fear, avoid definition as “terrorism,” which becomes a selective governmental term of invective. Remembering that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter,” it is clear that redefining a “war on terrorism” as a “war on freedom-fighting” would not work. The word is used to label its practitioners as evil, the “bad” word necessary to the speaker’s objective. Governments strive to define insurgents as not only illegal, and therefore criminal, but evil. Yet many nations count “freedom fighters“ as important parts of their origins. These observations do not stem from current events but from many academic studies across the decades.
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The NerveBy Neil
Sometimes we look PINK when we’re laughing.
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| There will be no newsletter in September! |
Advice for August (Britain Faith and Practice)sincerity in speaking, even very briefly, may open the way to fuller ministry from others. When prompted to speak, wait patiently to know that the leading and time are right, but do not let a sense of your own unworthiness hold you back. Pray that your ministry may arise from deep experience, and trust that words will be given to you. Try to speak audibly and distinctly and with sensitivity to the needs of others. Beware of speaking predictably or too often, and of making additions towards the end of a meeting when it was well left before.
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