INTO THE WOODS

Pisgah National Forest
Headwaters of the French Broad

Here is a hymn that captures the the trauma and release experienced by Jesus as he entered the woods and meditated before he faced his enemies.

In our own ways we enter the woods with our concerns and find comfort and strength. 

This performance combines two Hymns. After the first verse of "Into the Woods" the choir sings "Tis Midnight and On Olive's Brow" before singing the second verse of "Into the Woods." 

Click on yellow link to listen to hymn.

Into the woods my Master went

by Sidney Lanier, 1842 - 1881

"Into the woods my Master went,
Clean forspent, forspent.
Into the woods my Master came,
Forspent with love and shame.
But the olives they were not blind to Him,
The little gray leaves were kind to Him:
The thorn-tree had a mind to Him
When into the woods He came.
 
Out of the woods my Master went,
And He was well content.
Out of the woods my Master came,
Content with death and shame.
When Death and Shame would woo Him last,
From under the trees they drew Him last:
'Twas on a tree they slew Him--last
When out of the woods He came."

Tis midnight and on Olive's brow

by William B Tappan, 1794-1849

"Tis midnight, and on Olive's brow
The star is dimmed that lately shone;
'Tis midnight in the garden now,
The suff'ring Savior prays alone.

'Tis midnight, and from all removed,
The Savior wrestles lone with fears-
E'en that disciple whom He loved
Heeds not his Master's grief and tears.

'Tis midnight, and for other's guilt
The Man of Sorrows weeps in blood;
Yet He that hath in anguish knelt
Is not forsaken by His God.

'Tis midnight, and from heavenly plains
Is borne the song that angels know
Unheard by mortals are the strains
That sweetly soothe the Savior's woe."

YEARNING FOR FREEDOM

1979 Postage Stamp

This post was first published in August 2013 in celebration of the  50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. It is republished today (Jan 18, 2016) in honor of Martin Luther King's 86TH birthday.

 

There follows a quote from Martin Luther King's letter written from the jail in Birmingham, Alabama in April of 1963. King had been jailed for refusing to discontinue his protests against the abuse of justice in the segregated South. He took the opportunity of his imprisonment to make a statement of the foundations of the movement to non-violently enact 'extreme' measures to replace the passive acceptance of conditions which were an outrage to the conscience of just men.

 

"I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.
...
Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: "Get rid of your discontent." Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist. But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal . . ." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists."

This piece was posted on William Blake: Religion and Psychology. Read the complete post including comments at : Creative Extremists. Listen to verse about Birmingham Jail in Down in the Valley. 

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CHANGE FROM WITHIN

Montessori Toy

At the bottom of an email sent by Jeannie I read this quote from Dagmar Schiffmann, "The soul of the child should be filled with so much beauty and so much joy that he can draw on it for his entire life. Then he absolutely cannot fail." 

Jeannie operates Moultrie Montessori School in St Augustine where children have the opportunity to progress in their own ways at their own pace recognizing each is born with internal resources waiting to develop.

Jeannie wrote, “Montessori offers the best chance a child has to achieve his/her potential. That is because Montessori works from the inside out. It is a whole organization of the child physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually that allows the child to become his or her very best self.”

The big question facing us today is, "How can we can find ways to release the best self which is the true nature of each human?" How can we protect one another from forces which would deny "Liberty and Justice for All?"

I lived in Winston-Salem when riots broke after the murder of Martin Luther King and tutored once a week at a black school. We tutors questioned if we would be in danger if we went back into black neighborhoods, but we overcame our fears and visited the classrooms. Knowing that whites and blacks alike feared the violence that had irrupted, I asked the child I was tutoring how she had felt when she heard what was happening and saw fighting on TV. Her reply was that she was afraid of the "bad, white policemen." I could be a caring white presence for the child but I could not remove those memories of fear associated with whites which were stored in her brain.   

An article in the Atlantic demonstrates the link between the functioning of the brain and the problems in our society which have been so intractable. Tara García Mathewson in her article in the article "How Poverty Changes the Brain" in the The Atlantic, states "And the science is clear—when brain capacity is used up on these worries and fears, there simply isn’t as much bandwidth for other things." The gist of the article is that the symptoms which we associate with poverty can be traced to the trauma caused by the "constant stresses and dangers of poverty." It is a self-sustaining loop. Change can occur when attention is simultaneously given to the children, the families and the society.

But maybe the primary take away from the article is that when we are preoccupied with fears and worries we can't think straight. If we take away the things about which people are most afraid and worried we can get on the road to solving problems.

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How Poverty Changes the Brain

The Atlantic

Tara García Mathewson

CALL AND RESPONSE

From All About Birds

Barb wrote:

I was inspired to write the following as we sat together this past Sunday. Feel free to post it on your blog if you would like!

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CALL AND RESPONSE

We are sitting 

In silence

In a circle

In the woods.

A bird sings out.

Another answers.

 

It’s the most beautiful 

Call and response

I have ever heard

In a place of worship.

 

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ellie:

I am grateful to receive any material that folks would like to contribute to the blog. I enjoy hearing from you, constructing a post and sharing it with the Meeting. Most important the Meeting is enriched by keeping in contact with one another in as many ways as we can. Send me your words, pictures and links at eachone@earthlink.net

EDUCATING THE HEART

Hermitage Museum
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn. 1606-1669
Return of the Prodigal Son

Thanks to Jo Ann for contributing this post.

Educating The Heart

It may be in these interesting, challenging times we are called to do something different. To step beyond our normal thought and behavior.

“As long as we belong to this world, we will remain subject to its competitive ways and expect to be rewarded for all the good we do. But when we belong to God, who loves us without conditions, we can live as he does. The great conversion called for by Jesus is to move from belonging to the world to belonging to God,” Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, Doubleday, 1994. 

My mind is caught by this idea of freeing myself from the competitive ways of our society. More, More, and still More. I remember a conversation with a Trump supporter. An educated woman: “Trump will run the country like a business,” she said. A bit appalled I asked, “Are you sure we want our country run like a business?” 

Suppose instead, we thought of our heart? Our deepest self? The part of me, of you that wants to be kind, that wants the best for everyone, not just the so-called winners of life’s frequently unfair competitions. 

I think perhaps that is a purpose of religion in our lives: to help educate our hearts that there is a world beyond competition. And to help us build and appreciate that world.

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The painting by Rembrandt at the beginning of the post appeared on the cover of the Nouwen book.

For a closer view of the Rembrandt picture, RT click on the picture and select OPEN IN A NEW WINDOW. Then clicking on the picture will enlarge it. Close the window to return to the post.

LIVE THE TRUTH

Photo by Susan

Barb wrote: 

Last Sunday (5/31/20) these words came to me as we sat in the Quaker circle in the beauty of nature and at the same time with pain in our hearts over yet another murder of an African American at the hands (and knee) of a racist policeman and his three accomplices.

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ONLY JUST SO 

ONLY serve the Greater Good

JUST seek, speak and live The Truth

SO that all beings are free to simply Be

FOR THE JOY OF IT

Hook Lighthouse, Ireland

The second post to this blog featured singers from Nashville offering their songs in time of isolation. I find now that virtual choruses from around the world are posting to YouTube their inspiring music. It never would have happened in quite this way were there not a worldwide pandemic.

Click on the number to listen.

1) HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING

2) STAY AT HOME CHOIR

3) CANADIAN VIRTUAL CHORUS

4) IRISH BLESSING

5) CHANNEL ISLANDS BLESSING

PAST LIVES ON

This is the Totem Pole Dick carved when he was out west in 1962.

This is the way it looks in 2020. Charlie from Kentucky who visited our meeting several times photographed it at Dick's request on his recent trip to the west.

If you have read Dick's autobiography, you may remember his adventures as a young man. He had not made Totem Poles before going to the Pacific Northwest but as an artist he saw an opportunity to allow his creative  juices to flow.

Read here about the history of Totem Poles.   

EXPANDING THE CIRCLE

There were nine who joined together to worship in the woods on May 31.

We are grateful to have a wooded area on the meeting property where we can practice social distancing and still have a sense of a physical meeting in the Quaker manner. There were three messages which related to difficulties of bringing together the forces which seem to be pulling us apart.

Realizing that our benches could accommodate more people at a safe distance if we widened the circle, Peter and Gary moved the benches back so that they are further apart. Two to a bench, one at each end, there is room for fourteen Quakers now. 

From Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

by

John Greenleaf Whittier 

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

                                                         

Lyrics from Wikipedia                                                             Singing

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