God is a Living Presence

The reality of God as a living presence in the world and in men lies at the very center of the Quaker faith. Friends are not much interested in formulating abstract theories and statements about God. They prefer to begin with
personal experience of Him. They are convinced by their experience that He is not remote or far away. Every day is a day of creation. All history is sacred history. All places are holy places for the true worshipper. They find Him walking with them in the cool of the day also in the stress and strain of business and duty. They think of manís soul as a revealing place for God. Man is made in the divine image. He is a spiritual being. He is more nearly like God than is any other being in the universe. He has within himself an inner sanctuary where the human and the divine can meet and commune. He feels the august call
of duty. Something in his deeps tells him that right is eternally right and wrong is forever wrong. He judges and condemns himself when he takes the wrong course. He has spiritual hungers and thirsts. He all the time seeks for something beyond himself. He is made for the divine life and he is restless until he finds God. The real drama of human life is here within. The place to look for God is not above the sky, but in the inner life and spirit of man. The heart of religion, for Friends, is experience of God and joyous worship of Him. Through His presence felt within, Friends find their peace and power and fortification, not only in green pastures and by quiet waters, but also in the valley of the shadows and in the press of storm and danger. They live and think and act in the quiet faith that God is Spirit, close as breathing, and near as oneís own limbs. This is of course not a new idea, but it is a strangely neglected one and one that needs constant reemphasis and personal witness.

Rufus M. Jones

Facing Bench for December
Dec. 1, 8: Bob and Johanna DeRose
Dec. 15, 22 and 29: David Marshall and
Blake Angus-Anderson

Coffee and Covered Dish for December
Property Committee

Upcoming Events

December 1 ó Clean-up around the Meetinghouse. Bring your gardening gloves, rakes and other tools and help beautify the Meeting property. Sponsored by Property Committee. Rescheduled from November 17.

December 5-6 ó 10,000 Villages at HFS
Come to the HFS auditorium from 9 AM to 3 PM for a selection of handcrafted gifts from around the world. A portion of the proceeds will fund service projects at the school.

December 6 óThe Spirit of Giving
Noon, Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street.

Since 1917, the AFSC Emergency and Material Assistance Program (EMAP) has provided crucial
assistance to people struggling for survival in the wake of natural or man-made disasters. Its relief efforts
during World Wars I & II were among the reasons the American Friends Service Committee and its British counterpart received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Religious Society of Friends. Today, EMAP continues to respond to crises in its time-honored way. Join EMAP director Carlos Mejia as we take a broader look at the spirit of giving during this holiday season.

December 11 ó Worship-Sharing
7:30 to 9:30 pm in the Meetinghouse. See article on page 3.

December 14 ó Christmas Peace Pilgrimage Nazareth to Bethlehem, PA. See article on page 4.

December 22 ó Christmas Breakfast
8:30 AM in the auditorium. See enclosed flyer for details.

December 24 ó Meeting for Worship
7 pm in the Meetinghouse. A carol sing will take place at 7:30. Refreshments in the auditorium will follow immediately. Feel free to bring cookies.

December 27ñ30 ó Young Friends Christmas Retreat
Burlington Meeting House Conference Center.
For Young Friends 9th grade (or age 14 by September 1, 2002) through college age.

This gathering will focus on your creative energy.
The theme is ìExpressing Our Spirituality Through Creativity, Communication, Arts, Crafts & Poetry.î There will be games, dance and craft workshops and fun! Saturday night ìIn the Company of Poetsî will perform. For more information, contact Cookie Caldwell at cookiec@pym.org or check out the Young Friendsí website at www.pym.org/youngfriends.

November 2002 Monthly Meeting
for Business ó November 8, 2002

The Meeting opened with a period of silence.

Connie Brookes reported that when Harold Heritage was dropping off volumes of previous minutes to the Swarthmore College collection, it was discovered that the volumes for the years 1984 to 1994 were missing: Friends are asked if anyone might know where these are.

The Meeting accepted Lisa Whittington, Bob Baschoff, and their children ó Alexander, Madison, Mikaela and Aedan into membership. Flora and Howard McKinney and Bob and Connie Brookes were appointed visitors.

Sal Scafidi was also accepted into membership.
Steve Berryhill and Deedy Roberts will visit.

The Clerk summarized the report written by Jake McGlaughlin for the Working Committee on Conscientious Objection and passed it around for Friends to read. Committee members Joanne Heizer, Harold Heritage and Flora McKinney also contributed. Friends spoke on how we are responding, both individually and corporately, to the current world situation.
A worship-sharing session on these matters will take place on December 11, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm.

Bob Brookes suggested that the Meeting set up a standing committee on insurance, as matters are now more complex and cover the areas of a number of our current committees. The Meeting approved the setting up of an insurance committee that will work closely with the Property, Finance and School Committees. Nominating Committee will seek out interested candidates.

Flora McKinney gave a report from Haddonfield Quarterly Meeting, which met last month. It requested two nominations from this Meeting for its clerkís support committee; Lisa Whittington was appointed, and others will be approached to serve. Quarterly Meeting is also is looking for a coordinator.

Lisa Whittington mentioned that the School is selling seasonal poinsettias for fundraising, and Flora McKinney said that the School is collecting teddy bears for traumatized children, to be distributed by local police.

After a brief silence, the Meeting for Business closed.

FIRST DAY SCHOOL

ìIt Takes a Meeting to Raise a Friend.î
ìYe have no time but this present time.î G. Fox

Love Came Down at Christmas

Submitted by Flora McKinney

ìWhat Does Love Mean?î

A group of professional people posed this question to
a group of 4 to 8-year-olds, ìWhat does love mean?î The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

ìWhen my grandmother got arthritis, she couldnít bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. Thatís love.î Rebecca ó age 8

ìWhen someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth.î Billy ó age 4

ìLove is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.î Karl ó age 5

ìLove is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.î Chrissy ó age 6

ìLove is what makes you smile when youíre tired.î Terri ó age 4

ìLove is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.î Danny ó age 7

ìLove is whatís in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.î Bobby ó age 5

ìIf you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend whom you hate.î Nikka ó age 6

ìThere are two kinds of love. Our love. Godís love. But God makes both kinds of them.î Jenny ó age 4

ìLove is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.î Noelle ó age 7

ìLove is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other
so well.î Tommy ó age 6

ìMy mommy loves me more than anybody. You
donít see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.î Clare ó Age 5

ìLove is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken.î Elaine ó age 5

ìLove is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.î Chris ó age 8

ìLove is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.î Mary Ann ó age 4

ìI know my older sister loves me because she gives
me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.î Lauren ó age 4

ìI let my big sister pick on me because my Mom says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her.î Bethany ó age 4

ìWhen you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.î Karen ó age 7

ìYou really shouldnít say ëI love youí unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.î Jessica ó age 8

First Day School for December

December 1 ó Clean up around the Meetinghouse.

December 8 ó Simple Gifts. Our annual holiday treat for everyone. We will have crafts to make gifts and seasonal greens to decorate your home. There will also be live music and storytelling.

December 15 ó Families will share their favorite stories of the season with the Meeting.

December 22 ó Carol singing and entertainment by First Day School classes at rise of Meeting.

December 29 ó Extended coffee hour.

The Winter term of First Day School will begin in January. The theme is ìReplacing a war culture with a peace cultureî. Look for details in next monthís newsletter.

Worship-Sharing

So much has happened in the last sixteen months. The tragedy of September 11th, the invasion of Afghanistan and possible war in Iraq. How are we responding as individuals and as a Meeting community to these events? How can we live the Peace Testimony in our lives and in these times? Join us for a Worship-sharing on December 11, form 7:30-9:30 PM.

Art Class Activity at HFS

Itís post-Halloween and the HFS art room is ablaze in fall colors. First grade used oil pastels to make giant fall leaves. The second grade class used pastels to create a beautiful fall leaf wreath. They made patches of fall colors on an orange sheet of construction paper and blended the colors together, folded the paper and cut
8 leaf shapes. These shapes were arranged in a pattern around a paper circle, and adorned with a raffia bow.

The third and fourth grade classes used tracings of leaves gathered on the grounds to make unusual artwork. The third grade traced the leaves but left the leaf area blank, making patterns and designs all around the leaves. In this way they learned about positive and negative space. The fourth grade used the leaf shapes and made a gorgeous pastel project, blending fall
colors inside the leaf shapes and dividing the negative space around the leaves into areas of color and pattern as a background.

The fifth grades are happily wrapping their way to a fantastic hanging sculpture called ëlines in spaceí. This is a perennial fifth grade project eagerly anticipated by the students. They first wrapped yarn tightly around a seven foot length of paper roping. Then they used the very colorful roping to fashion a three dimensional hanging sculpture. Next they added tassels, feathers, pipecleaners and beads to enhance their piece. The results are evaluated in their first ëpeer critiqueí and finalized using suggestions from each other. They are all unusual and beautiful to see.

The sixth graders had a lesson on the Fauvist movement during the early 1900s. The ìFauvesî (fauve artists) were referred to as such because a critic sympathetic to their stylistic approach to painting likened them to ìwild beasts.î The style of these artists was very eclectic and experimental, using unusual colors for normal landscape scenes. The students had a digital photo taken and then simplified using Adobe Photoshop into shades of black, white and gray. These portraits were printed, and they used what they observed from the Fauves to color the tones on their faces with colored pencils to make a wildly colorful portrait.

The seventh graders just finished doing half a job.
The computer did the first part, and they did the rest. They had their portrait taken by with a digital camera and printed in black and white. They cut their portrait in half, glued down one half of their face on paper,
and in pencil, rendered in the other side. It was a hard project to do, but the results are quite good. They
surprised themselves with their ability to observe their own face and learn drawing and shading techniques
to reproduce their facial features.

You can see some of these projects online on our
HFS website at: www.haddonfieldfriends.org.

Tr. Cathy

Holiday Giving Opportunities

Senior Care Food Bags

Friends are preparing December holiday food bags for 100 seniors at Senior Care. Senior Care is an adult medical day center providing many services to low-income seniors with medical problems. Haddonfield Quarterís Peace & Social Concerns Committee invit›s everyone to participate by donating food, funds, or time. This project started two years ago and has been successful because many different parts of the wider Quaker Community participated. Please leave nonperishable food in the foyer of the Meeting House.
For questions: Priscilla Adams peacepc@aol.com.

Coat Collection

Friends Transition Support Services is collecting new and nearly new coats for men who are transitioning out of prison and have no winter coat. Please leave menís coats at the Meetinghouse, clearly marked for FTSS. For questions: Priscilla Adams peacepc@aol.com.

Christmas Peace Pilgrimage

Walk the Road of Peace: For over 40 years, during the Christmas season, people who believe in the importance of peace have been gathering in Nazareth, PA
to walk the ten miles to Bethhehem, PA. Participants will meet in the parking lot at 520 E. Broad Street, Bethlehem before 11 AM. Buses will transport pilgrims to Nazareth Moravian Church on Center Square where the pilgrimage will begin. Pilgrims will arrive back in Bethlehem, at Christ United Church of Christ, at around 6 PM. There is a traditional hymn singing, then a simple supper and rally. Our speaker this year
is Liz MacAllister. Liz is a founder of Jonah House,
a Christian peacemaking community in Baltimore, a poet and author and an active peacemaker.

For more information, call Fran Dreisbach, or Bethlehem Council of Churches, 610-867-8671 or visit the web site: www.peacewalk.org.

Friendsí Peace Witness in a Time of Crisis

ìFriendsí Peace Witness in a Time of Crisis: A conference on our responses to the growing danger of global war and terrorismî is to be held at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC over the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend (January 17-20, 2003).

Attending the conference will be individuals from Friends United Meeting, Friends General Conference, Evangelical Friends International, and Conservative and Independent Friends. Participation in the conference will be limited to 200 people, with at least 50 to be young Friends age 18-30.

This specially called conference is only the fifth since FWCCís inception in 1937. The mission of the conference is to gather in the spirit of prayer and openness to Divine Guidance, as a family of God spanning all traditions of Friends meetings and churches, to assist Friends to carry forth the peace witness in its many forms in the face of the increasing danger of wars and terrorism. Together we will study the spiritual heritage of the Peace Testimony, identify spiritual tools for strengthening it in todayís world, and prayerfully consider actions to remain faithful witnesses to Jesusí message, ìblessed are the peacemakers.î

Information about the conference ó as well as
the registration form ó is available on-line at www.friendspeace.org. The early registration discount date is December 1, although Friends can register after this date as long as space allows. There is also a link
at the website to a ìvirtual peace conferenceî where Friends can join in on-line discussions about peace.

Celebrate the New Year at Pendle Hill

Participate in workshops ó Music of Power and Vision: Late Great Romantic Composers; Silence and the Revolution: When I Becomes We; Painting the Canvas of Our Lives ó or just relax at Pendle Hill for the New Year without taking part in a workshop.

Workshops in January at Pendle Hill: ìLiving Your Heart Songî: A Womenís Retreat ó A weekend with Brenda Macaluso, January 10-12; The Ministry of Writing for Publication with Tom Mullen, January 12-17; Couple Enrichment: A weekend with Mary Kay Glazer and Mark Moss, January 17-19; and The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: Celebrating Our Spiritual Journeys ó An extended weekend with Caroline Jones and Katharine Myers, January 17-20.

The Monday Night Forum also continues on December 2 at Arch Street Meeting with ìRace in America: Beyond Black & White.î

FCNL General Committee Adds
Energy Policy as a Legislative Priority

At its annual meeting, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) approved five legislative priorities for its work with the 108th Congress on the peaceful prevention of deadly conflict. In summary, these are: promoting peaceful alternatives to the war on terrorism, promoting arms control and disarmament initiatives, shifting budget priorities from military spending to meeting basic human needs, preserving civil liberties and human rights, and removing dependence on oil as a source of violent conflict by reducing energy consumption and developing renewable sources of energy and alternative modes of transportation.

New PYM Directory Available

Allen Reeder, PYM editor, announces that the 2002-2003 Directory of PYM has arrived from the printer.
It will be mailed to those involved in PYM work and to Meetings. Copies are are available for a short time. Call him at 800-220-0796, ext. 7215 or 215-241-7215.

Yearly Meeting Preview

In preparation for Yearly Meeting sessions in 2003, PYM is starting a conversation among Meetings around the theme of ìFinding the Power to Make Peace in Every Aspect of Our Lives.î Friends are being challenged at the present time to find Spirit-led ways to be active participants in building peace at home and abroad.

Monthly Meeting clerks were asked to provide ideas in November about what concerns and questions from the Monthly Meeting level might be appropriate for consideration at Yearly Meeting sessions.

At the residential Yearly Meeting there will be interest group meetings on topics that will support Monthly Meetings in becoming even stronger and more Spirit-based. Again, ideas were sought from clerks of Meetings.

There will be a one-day session of Yearly Meeting on Saturday, March 29, 2003, at the Fourth and Arch Street Meetinghouse. Residential Yearly Meeting will take place from Tuesday, July 29, to Sunday, August 3, at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA.

Plan now to attend Residential Yearly Meeting from Tuesday, July 29, to Sunday, August 3, 2003. The Annual Sessions Planning Group asks all members of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to hold in the Light the planning for our 323rd Annual Sessions. Pray that we sink deeply into the united stream of the Divine as we attend to our worship and work.

Quarterly Meeting

Did you ever wonder what committees did the work
of Quarterly Meeting? Here is a listing, courtesy of Priscilla Adams:

1. Audit & Budget

2. Peace & Social Concerns (which supervises
Priscillaís activities)

3. Quarterly Meeting Nominating Committee

4. Representatives on Yearly Meeting Nominating Committee (This is a PYM committee that has people from each of the Quarters ó although as of the last QM nominating committee report we had no people who were willing to serve.)

5. Tri-Quarter planning

6. Michner Trust

7. Greenleaf

8. Representative to Interim Meeting

9. Orchard Friend School

Only the committees for the Greenleaf, Orchard Friends School (which guide those specific institutions) and the Peace & Social Concerns committees meet regularly.