Letter from Dawn and Steve
During May, in First Day School, we continued our exploration of stories from the New Testament, including several stories of the miracles of Jesus--the calming of the storm, and the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. We talked about how in each of these stories, Jesus reminds his disciples to have faith. We talked about how when we sit in the quiet, and put our faith in that silence, we connect with the life of the spirit, and it calms us. We talked about these stories in relationship with George Fox’s words: "Be still and cool in thy own mind…"
On the Sunday before Mother’s Day, we talked about gifts. We talked about how a gift assumes its value by the love with which it is given. We sat in the quiet and thought about someone who had nurtured us. We made gifts for Mother’s Day. The children decorated cards, planted violets and made topiaries.
One Sunday, after we had sat in silence, I asked the children what the quiet looked like to each of them, if anything, what attributes it held. Hannah said that sometimes when she sits in silence, she feels like she is sitting in a field; at other times, she said, she feels like she is underwater, in that kind of soundlessness that is filled with sound. Chase said that when he sits in silence, he imagines he is on an island. Jack said that for him, the quiet is a room in his heart. Nate said that for him, it is more that he feels the silence, the light inside him, and it makes him feel warm.
By the end of May, the children will have planted our portable garden. They will continue to tend the garden through the summer.
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Kevin fills in during Peter’s absence.
Morning Worship begins with reading to the First Day School :
Is A Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? Wells
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Marit and Dawn spruce up the Apponegansett Meetinghouse in preparation for the first in the series of Summer Conversations.
Summer Conversations |
Peace and Social Concerns, under the guidance of Kevin K, is sponsoring Summer Conversations which will be held on Thursday Evenings , 7 PM at Apponegansett Meetinghouse.
The theme for the series is "Mid-East Conflict and the War on Terror". Why are Quakers sponsoring talks on war? Haven’t we had enough? As pacifists Quakers listen to all sides of conflict to get a better understanding of the viewpoint of the other side, enabling them to negotiate a peaceful settlement. We are all aware of our American attitude towards terrorism. This series is designed to give us all a "look at the other side", a viewpoint we don’t often see in today’s news.
Other speeches in the series will look at modern Muslims in America and the prospects for Democracy in the Arab world.
Next "Conversation" is on June 8, 7 PM.
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