SOLAR ENERGY

The Energy Consortium

A recent transplant from St Petersburg has written an opinion story for the Gainesville Sun on Climate Crisis Solutions. David Hastings joins us to share the silence at our outdoor worship in the Quaker Woods. He comes to us from the St Petersburg Quaker Meeting.

David's May 17 article in the Sun concentrates on ways in which we can avoid contributing to global emissions. But action is necessary; if we are complacent now when we have the opportunity to initiate changes we will pass the tipping point and find decline inevitable.

David says:

"The massive shift in technology has transformed how we can produce energy here in the Sunshine State, in developing countries and wherever the sun shines. These advances are revolutionizing energy policy."

OUTDOOR WORSHIP

REMEMBER WHEN

The Attack by Edvard Isto

Symbolizes Finland's Resistance to Russification

Finlandia was composed in 1899-90 by Jean Sibelius as a patriotic symphonic poem.  

Article by Danny Riley

"Press censorship was a strong characteristic of Russian, and in 1899 Sibelius was asked to compose some music for a “Press Celebrations” event. It was advertised as a fundraiser for pensions of newspaper workers, but its real purpose was to help finance a Finnish free press. So, to mark the occasion Sibelius chose to create a set of seven musical tableaux depicting momentous occasions in his country’s history."

...

"The work ended, however, in the rousing “Finland Awakes” – an optimistic look towards the country’s future."

...

"As the work grew in popularity, however, it had to be performed under politically inoffensive pseudonyms to avoid Russian censorship."

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"When the Finnish parliament declared independence from Russia in December 1917, this feeling was crystallised in the music of Finlandia. “We fought 600 years for our freedom and I am part of the generation which achieved it,” he wrote. “Freedom! My Finlandia is the story of this fight. It is the song of our battle, our hymn of victory.” From then on, Finlandia remained a constant source of inspiration for patriotic Finns, with the poet Veikko Antero Koskenniemi writing his own lyrics to the 'Finlandia Hymn' in response to Russian aggression during the Second World War." 

 

*****

The words of the hymn Be Still, my soul were written in 1752 in German by Katharina von Schlegel and translated to English by Jane Borthwick in 1855. It is sung to Sibelius' tune Finlandia.

Be Still My Soul 

1 Be still, my soul! for God is on your side;
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain:
leave to your God to order and provide,
who through all changes faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul! your best, your heav’nly Friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2 Be still, my soul! for God will undertake
to guide the future surely as the past.
Your hope, your confidence, let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be clear at last.
Be still, my soul! the waves and winds still know
the voice that calmed their fury long ago.

3 Be still, my soul! the hour is hastening on
when we shall be forever in God's peace;
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
love’s joys restored, our strivings all shall cease.
Be still my soul! when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

*****

In 1932 a young music student at the University of Southern California aware that the great powers were once again threatening to take control of weaker nations, felt in Sibelius' powerful music a way to speak out for peace. Lloyd Stone wrote his own words to the tune Finlandia.

A Song of Peace

This is my song
Oh God of all the nations
A song of peace for lands so far away
This is my home, a country where my heart is
Here grew my hopes and dreams for all mankind
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight shines on clover leaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight too and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
Oh hear my prayer, o gods of all the nations
A song of peace for their lands and for mine

"Lloyd Stone (1912 – 1993) was born in California and attended the University of Southern California as a music major, with the intent of becoming a teacher. Instead, he joined a circus bound for Hawaii and remained there for the rest of his life, writing poems and songs. This is his best known work; stanzas 1 and 2 were written in 1934 when Lloyd was 22 years old. Often combined with several additional verses by Georgia Harkness, the poem is typically sung to the tune Finlandia, composed by Jean Sibelius. Lloyd also wrote a musical based on Joyce Kilmer’s poem, 'Trees,' and several books of Hawaii-themed poems. Said one reviewer, '[Stone] does not sing of the palms and the surf, but of the earthy human beauty which is the heritage of the islands.'"

*****

I remember when we sang together the hymn A Song of Peace, page 304 in our Friends Hymnal. 

 

PENN SCHOOL

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs

Significant Election Scene at Washington, June 3, 1867

From the earliest days of Quakerism there has been a two pronged thrust of Quaker activities: to make people aware of the Divine Presence within everyone, and to help those who were who were oppressed. In the early days of the Civil War Pennsylvania Quakers saw an opportunity to help the freed slaves on St Helena Island in South Carolina make the transition to freedom. An organization named Friend's Freedmen's Association of Philadelphia provided volunteers and donations of money, clothing and supplies.

Although the rebellious southern states were in the hands of the Confederacy, the sea Islands had been captured during the Battle of Port Royal on November 7, 1861 and remained in the hands of Union troops for the duration of the war. The plantation owners and their families escaped the islands leaving behind their thousands of slaves. Two of the women who saw the need to provide assistance to the freed slaves were Laura Townes, a Unitarian from Philadelphia, and her friend Ellen Murray a Quaker from Rhode Island. They are credited with establishing the first school for freed slaves. When in 1864 the Freedmen's Association of Philadelphia provided a prefabricated building as the first permanent location, the school acquired the name Penn School in gratitude to their supporters in Pennsylvania. For Laura Townes and Ellen Murray assisting the community of Gullahs in the area around St Helena Island became their life's work. Their programs included education for children and adults, health care and helping establish self sustaining agricultural practices. 

Ellen Murray & Students

c. 1890 

The African Americans on St Helana Island were distinctive in being from a group called Gullahs who retained their own language and many of their customs. Since the land had been abandoned by the plantation owners, the military distributed it among the blacks who had served the whites and produced the crops of indigo, rice, cotton and spices. Although the African Americans were later given title to land, policies changed and title was often not secure. 

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Joan Baez, Ira Sandperl, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Dora McDonald on the Penn Center campus in 1964

As the needs of the people changed the programs offered by what became the Penn Center evolved. To secure an economic base for the community, education began to focus on agriculture, industry and practical skills. In the 1960's the center provided space for interracial activities which were prohibited elsewhere. More recently the Penn Center has emphasized making it possible for Gullah families to keep the land which has been hands for over a hundred years. Large scale development in the Sea Islands and changes to legal requirements for ownership have threatened the Gullah people with removal. More recently the Penn Center has become involved with the National Park service in the establishment of the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park.

Gullah Music

Gullah Roots