Putney Friends Meeting

Beyond Conventional Wisdom

Today, I was struck powerfully by the fact that there are so many proverbs in scripture that express some lazy and erroneous conventional “wisdom” that we should question and reject. An example of this is the frequently repeated notion in Proverbs that if you love God and are faithful to the Spirit’s leadings, you will inevitably be protected from harm and suffering, avoid persecution, be prosperous, and enjoy nothing but good things in life.

The sacred stories offered in the gospels about the arrest, cruel torture, and humiliating public execution of Jesus as a rebel leader at the hands of the Roman Empire puts the lie to this very naive notion. While loving God and loving what God loves does open us to great joy, communion, and near endless gratitude, it does not protect us from suffering persecution or betrayal at the hands of others. In one of the gospels, even Jesus is reported to have said on the cross, “God, God, why have you forsaken me?”

Yet, the resurrection story of Easter says to me that we while we can suffer betrayal and persecution at the hands of others, we are not forsaken. We are not alone. We are not without divine love and spiritual resources. In fact, the message of the resurrection story to me is that evil can be evil, but it can’t kill the Spirit–and God’s Spirit always remains available to accompany us on a path that can deepen our joy, inspire our courage to challenge the corrupt ways of empire in the world (and in our hearts), and help us become much needed channels of divine love and healing so we are able to say in the midst of intense suffering and betrayal, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.”

To this, I would only add, “Forgive me, Divine Spirit in which we all live, move, and breath, for I so often do not know what I do and I so often miss the mark.” Blessed be.

Steve Chase

04/14/2015

Commentary, Steve Chase

conventional wisdom, Steve Chase

Gun Sense, Moving Quickly

Dear Friends,

We have exciting news about how quickly the House is moving forward on the Gun Violence Prevention Bill. After passing the Senate 20-8 last week, the House Judiciary Committee has already started hearings on S. 141. A floor vote could happen in as soon as two weeks! We were so successful in making our voices heard in the Senate, and we need to take a similar approach in the House, which means polite yet consistent contact urging them to support the bill.

Looking ahead at these next two critical weeks, here are the key steps:

1) RIGHT NOW e-mail your representatives in the House and encourage them to support S. 141 to keep guns out of the wrong hands. (Also, please e-mail Elissa at elissa@gunsensevt.org to let us know that you’ve sent your e-mail.)
I’ve included direct links to your representatives’ e-mail addresses below to make it easy.

2) In the coming days, encourage your friends and neighbors to write personal letters to your representative urging support for the bill. (Click here for additional information about the bill.)

3) Help phone supporters in swing districts to encourage calls to key representatives. (E-mail Elissa to help with calls!)

4) In the final days before the House floor vote, flood the Statehouse Sergeant-at-Arms office with calls in support from across the state.

Your voices were so important in the Senate, and they are going to be just as important on the House side. Please e-mail your representatives now!

Thank you!
Ann

Windham 1	Guilford, Vernon	MICHAEL “MIKE” HEBERT	mhebert@leg.state.vt.us
Windham 2-1	Brattleboro	VALERIE A. STUART	vstuart@leg.state.vt.us
Windham 2-2	Brattleboro	MOLLIE S. BURKE	mburke@leg.state.vt.us
Windham 2-3	Brattleboro	TRISTAN TOLENO	ttoleno@leg.state.vt.us
Windham 3	Athens, Brookline, Grafton, Rockingham, Westminster, Windham	CAROLYN W. PARTRIDGE	cpartridge@leg.state.vt.us
Windham 3	Athens, Brookline, Grafton, Rockingham, Westminster, Windham	MATTHEW A. TRIEBER	matrieber@gmail.com
Windham 4	Dummerston, Putney, Westminster	DAVID L. DEEN	ddeen@leg.state.vt.us
Windham 4	Dummerston, Putney, Westminster	MIKE MROWICKI	mmrowicki@leg.state.vt.us
Windham 5	Marlboro, Newfane, Townshend	EMILY LONG	elong@leg.state.vt.us
Windham 6	Halifax, Whitingham, Wilmington	ANN MANWARING	amanwaring@leg.state.vt.us
Windsor 1	Hartland, West Windsor, Windsor	DONNA SWEANEY	dsweaney@leg.state.vt.us
Windsor 1	Hartland, West Windsor, Windsor	JOHN BARTHOLOMEW	jbartholomew@leg.state.vt.us
Windsor 2	Cavendish, Weathersfield	MARK HUNTLEY	mhuntley@leg.state.vt.us
Windsor 3-1	Andover, Baltimore, Chester, Springfield	LEIGH J. DAKIN	ldakin@leg.state.vt.us
Windsor 3-2	Springfield	ALICE M. EMMONS	aemmons@leg.state.vt.us
Windsor 3-2	Springfield	ROBERT “BOB” FORGUITES	rforguites@leg.state.vt.us

04/01/2015

Social Justice

Ann Braden, Gun Sense Vermont, House Judiciary Committee, S. 141, the Senate

Call Now! Support Gun Legislation

Dear Friends,

It is especially important that your Senators hear that you support s.141. Their vote is particlularly important in ensuring the success of this bill which will most likely be voted on tomorrow. The opposition is making calls and we need to do the same today.

It is a very easy process. Simply call the Sargeant at Arms and tell them your town and county and that you support s. 141. The number is (802)-828-2228 or 1-800-322-5616.

If you can send me an email that you have made the call that would be wonderful. elissa@gunsensevt.org

Thank you!

Elissa Bhanti, GunSenseVT
http://www.gunsensevt.org/

03/24/2015

Social Justice

Ann Braden, Gun Sense Vermont, Gun Violence, Universal Background Checks
Bright Wings Chorus Concert at Next Stage

Preview YouTube video Bright Wings – Greenwood LakeBright Wings – Greenwood Lake

Dear Friends,

You might be interested in an upcoming concert at Next Stage Arts in Putney. On Friday, March 27 I will be performing with my group The Bright Wings Chorus, a nine person a capella group that performs traditional American sacred music, including shape note hymns, gospel, and my original work. For this tour, we will be doing a mentorship with Rev. Donna Cox, a gospel singer from Ohio, to deepen our practice in that tradition and to facilitate a conversation about race in the folk music community. And for the Putney show, we will be joined for one song by members of the BUHS Madrigals group. It will be an exciting evening, and I’d love to see you all there.

You can hear a bit of what the group sounds like here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ys1lVkBPMM

Tickets are $12. You can reserve ahead of time at brightwings.brownpapertickets.com or get them at the door.

in song,

brendan

03/21/2015

Community Events

Bright Wings Chorus, Next Stage
Big News!

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to tell you that the Senate Judiciary Committee PASSED a gun violence prevention bill out of committee BY A UNANIMOUS VOTE IN SUPPORT!

Gun violence prevention has been untouchable at the statehouse for decades, and this is proof that times have changed. It has been your grassroots action that has gotten this issue on the table, and now it is moving forward despite opposition from the gun lobby. This is HISTORIC!!

Please e-mail the Senate Judiciary Committee members to thank them for taking this issue seriously!
Senator Sears – rsears@leg.state.vt.us
Senator Nitka – anitka@leg.state.vt.us
Senator Benning – jbenning@leg.state.vt.us
Senator White – jwhite@leg.state.vt.us
Senator Ashe – tashe@leg.state.vt.us

We have such incredible momentum coming out of this committee vote, and it’s up to us to make sure we keep moving forward. The bill will get a number next week (it’s not called S. 31), and the debate and floor vote could happen as early as Thursday or else the following week. We’ll need to have supportive calls flooding into the statehouse for that, and since the gun lobby will likely do another robo-call to generate activity, we need to do the grassroots equivalent: a massive phone tree to call other supporters asking them to call their senators. To prepare for this, folks are coming together at locations all across the state this weekend to start making phone calls. If you haven’t yet signed up to help, contact Elissa, and she’ll put you in touch with the phone bank organizer in your area.

Our voices are making a huge difference, and we must continue to ensure that the call for common sense comes through loud and clear.

Together we are DOING this!!
Ann

P.S. Here is the first news report out about the bill, and I’m sure others will be coming out shortly.

03/14/2015

Social Justice

Ann Braden, Gun Sense Vermont, Gun Violence, Social Justice, Vermont
An invitation from Burlington Friends Meeting

Doug Gwyn, pastor of Durham Friends Meeting and author of many books including his recent A Sustainable Life–Quaker Faith and Practice in the Renewal of Creation, is coming to Burlington Friends Meeting on March 29.

Burlington Friends have been reading the book together and have found it to be very relevant to our life and times as Quakers. We’re pleased that Doug agreed to speak at the rise of Meeting on the 29th. Following worship, which is 11am to 12 pm, we’ll enjoy a potluck lunch. Doug will speak at 1:30 pm and with questions and answers, it may go to 3:30 pm.

Please let us know if you need childcare.

Contact Ruah Swennerfelt with questions and childcare needs at ruahswennerfelt@gmail.com or 802-425-3377.

03/06/2015

Community Events, The Wider Quaker World

A Sustainable Life–Quaker Faith and Practice in the Renewal of Creation, Burlington Friends Meeting, Doug Gwyn, FRIENDS, Northwest Quarterly Meeting, Quaker, Quaker community
New England Young Adult Friends (Quaker) Climate Working Group: Pipeline Pilgrimage

Dear YAF Friends,

The New England Young Adult Friends (Quaker) Climate Working Group invites

you to join us in a pilgrimage along the route of the proposed

Kinder-Morgan methane pipeline in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

We begin this invitation with confession; that the reality of climate

change is overwhelming and that we do not know exactly how to respond to

the devastating truth that the world is ending on our watch.

Yet there are things that we can say clearly: That we must reduce

atmospheric CO2 levels below 350 ppm immediately and that to do so requires

an immediate phase out of fossil fuel use. Given this reality, the further

expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure makes no sense. Every dollar

invested in energy must be spent building renewable sources, like Cape

Wind, instead of pipelines and power plants for fracked gas.

Therefore, we are called to witness with our own eyes this pipeline route,

to walk its length and to fathom the changes that must be made. We walk

praying for clarity, determination and boldness to take the necessary next

steps. We walk acknowledging that we do not yet possess the inner resources

to live our lives fully into the reality that our scientific understanding

of the climate crisis calls us to. We walk creating a community of climate

dissidents, understanding that we need each other in these challenging

times. We walk bringing public focus to the immorality of perpetuating the

status quo, and to a genuine hope for a different future.

We invite you to join us to bear witness to the power of God in our lives

to make a way out of no way, to move from what is dead and past to what is

alive and new. This is a time for needed renewal and transformation. This

season is one to roll away the stone and to see what new life may move

among us.

The pilgrimage will be a 12-day walk from Pittsfield, Massachusetts along

the 143 mile proposed pipeline route to Dracut, Massachusetts beginning

April 1st. It will be Quaker-led and open to all, with opportunities for

Worship, for meeting local community members working to stop the pipeline,

and for fellowship.

We hope you will consider joining us. To find out more about the route, to

sign up to walk, or to contact us visit http://www.pipelinepilgrimage.org.

“We dedicate ourselves to let the living waters flow through us – where we

live, regionally, and in wider world fellowship. We dedicate ourselves to

building the peace that passeth all understanding, to the repair of the

world, opening our lives to the Light to guide us in each small step.” –

The Kabarak Call, World Conference of Friends 2012

03/04/2015

NEYM, Young Adult Friends

climate change, FRIENDS, Massachusetts, New England Yearly Meeting, NEYM, pipeline pilgrimage, pipeline route, Quaker, yaf, young adult friends
AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT QUAKER VOLUNTARY SERVICE

AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT QUAKER VOLUNTARY SERVICE

On Tuesday, March 3, at 7pm, Hilary Burgin (the Boston Start-up Coordinator for Quaker Voluntary Service) will be at Northampton Friends Meeting to talk with local Quakers about QVS. She will be updating about the start-up of the Boston house and how we can be involved in recruiting young adults to apply to be Volunteers.

See below for more information about Quaker Voluntary Service and Hilary’s visits at UMass Amherst, Smith College, and Amherst College on March 2 and March 3. If you have contacts at any of these schools please pass along the information below and spread the word of QVS!
————————————-

Quaker Voluntary Service is a faith-based service year in Atlanta (GA), Portland (OR), Philadelphia (PA), and Boston (MA). Each location takes 6-8 Quaker and Quaker-curious young adults excited about social justice and interested in living in community, and places them in full-time professional roles at nonprofits. Volunteers are engaged in considering how their faith and spirituality informs their social justice work, and how to stay grounded through the challenges that often come with this vocation. Check out our website <http://www.quakervoluntaryservice.org/> for more details, or watch our video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9-iRiq9dWw>. The application deadline for Volunteers is March 15.

If you are a college student in the area, Hilary will be at the following colleges March 2 and March 3. Please forward widely to let young adults in the area know about opportunities to speak with Hilary about QVS!

Smith College: Monday March 2, an information session 4-5pm in Campus Center Room 102

Amherst College, Tuesday March 3, 10-11am in the Keefe Campus Center Atrium, plus a Coffee Chat Session from 11am-noon in the McCaffrey Room in the Keefe Campus Center.

UMass Amherst: Tuesday March 3, 1-4pm for the Service & Leadership Career & Internship Fair, at 1 Campus Center, Amherst MA.

To read more about QVS click here.

02/27/2015

Community Events, Social Justice

Quaker Voluntary Service, QVS, UMass Amherst
Citizens’ Climate Lobby

What: Citizens’ Climate Lobby Groupstart Meeting (free and open to the public)

When: Saturday, February 28th, 9am-12pm

Where: Antioch University New England, Room E101(first floor), 40 Avon St, Keene, NH

Contact: Sasha Breus abreus@antioch.edu

Citizens’ Climate Lobby(CCL) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies addressing climate change.

In order to generate the political will necessary for passage of a Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal,CCL trains and supports volunteers to engage elected officials, the media and the public through lobbying efforts, letters to editor and opeds, presentations and tables at events, community meetings, and more.

CCL believes citizens who are welltrained, organized by Congressional district and with a good system of support can more than influence the political process. CCL is creating the political will for a livable world by empowering individuals to experience breakthroughs in exercising their personal and political power.

www.citizensclimatelobby.org

02/25/2015

Community Events

Antioch University New England, Citizens’ Climate Lobby
The Beauty of Quaker Voluntary Service

Dear Friend,

Built on the four core values: Community, Service, Transformation, and the Quaker Way, QVS offers young adults the opportunity to discover their gifts, while helping change the world. It is an experiment at the intersection of transformational spirituality and activism. It is a chance to live your life with compassion and justice, within a community of fellow social change agents, and in conversation with the various expressions of the Quaker Way. We are excited to announce that we are recruiting Volunteers for FOUR houses this year (Atlanta, GA; Portland, OR; Philadelphia, PA; and Boston, MA).

QVS Volunteers work full time in professional positions at local nonprofits, schools, and other social justice agencies that offer support to marginalized individuals and communities. For examples of the service site placement possibilities in our current cities see:www.quakervoluntaryservice.org/current-placements/.

Through simple, communal living, Volunteers learn to care for self and others. Volunteers receive housing, all utilities, health insurance, a transportation and grocery allowance and a small living stipend. Volunteers will be supported by and engage with local Quaker communities. Volunteers are not required to be a Quaker to participate in QVS, but they should come prepared to deeply engage in Quaker worship and practice! , and be genuinely open to sharing their spiritual journey with others.

QVS alumna Becca Bass reflects on her experience with QVS:

“….The beauty of QVS is that it gives you a secure space in which to clarify a sense of your own values and ideals, it helps you c ultivate a vocabulary with which to process them and continue to explore them, and provides you with communities that support and validate the search.”

Do you know a young adult who is looking for this kind of experience?

Applications are due by March 15, 2015.

For more information and to apply, please see:
www.quakervoluntaryservice.org/apply

You can watch a brief video introduction titled QVS: Transforming Service, Living Faith

Rebecca Sullivan

Recruitment Coordinator

Quaker Voluntary Service

recruitment@quakervoluntaryservice.org

610-551-8439 (cell) : 404-624-5299 (voicemail)

750 Glenwood Ave SE or PO Box 17628 Atlanta GA 30316

www.quakervoluntaryservice.org

www. facebook.com/QuakerVoluntaryService

Watch a video about QVS here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9-iRiq9dWw

02/23/2015

Social Justice, Wider Quaker World, Young Adult Friends

Quaker Voluntary Service, QVS

Putney Friends Meeting

Beyond Conventional Wisdom

Bright Wings Chorus Concert at Next Stage

An invitation from Burlington Friends Meeting

New England Young Adult Friends (Quaker) Climate Working Group: Pipeline Pilgrimage

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

What: Citizens’ Climate Lobby Groupstart Meeting (free and open to the public)

When: Saturday, February 28th, 9am-12pm

Where: Antioch University New England, Room E101(first floor), 40 Avon St, Keene, NH

Contact: Sasha Breus abreus@antioch.edu

Citizens’ Climate Lobby(CCL) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies addressing climate change.