Back!

Over at Buttering the Sky, I was getting a little mired down in some details. Thus, I will resume this blog for musings of a more light and amusing nature. I assume there will still be an overlap, but here will reside my book/film reviews of a non-Quakerly nature!

movin' on....

my blogging has of late taken a turn. this one was founded when i was a very different person than now - and i'm hoping to experiment with some new thoughts and perceptions.

i had originally decided to blog once a day for one year when i created this - and this is my 365th post. yes, it took me more than one year - but i don't think it's coincidence that today is the day i feel ready to move.

this is my new blogging home:
http://butteringthesky.blogspot.com/
(i'll add the obligatory bells and whistles as i go!)

Perspective.

Matthew Fox part one - I am confused.

He is charismatic and a wonderful human being and I am glad he is on the planet doing good work. I have read most of his books, and I am impressed at his ability to see common threads in many traditions.

All that having been said, I was surprisingly underwhelmed this evening. Why is that exactly?

You will say Christ saith this, and the apostles say this, but what canst thou say? Art thou a child of Light and hast thou walked in the Light, and what thou speakest is it inwardly from God?

Margaret Fell, quoting from her first encounter with George Fox

Not to get all Quakerly here..... but I think I might finally be done with lots of time romanticising the experiences and efforts of others. I can garner information, but wisdom needs to be developed from an inner sense of self now. Perhaps I am being overly critical - but this really has little to do with Fox or anybody else. Matthew Fox, that is.... might have more to do with George Fox.... hmmmmm.....

Tommorrow is a day-long creativity awakening something-or-other. We shall see how that goes - starting to reminding me of CCT! In addition, many fFriends were there, so the sharing has been good.

Happy May!

Tra la! It's May!

The lusty month of May!

That lovely month when ev'ryone goes

Blissfully astray.Tra la! It's here!

That shocking time of year

When tons of wicked little thoughts

Merrily appear!It's May! It's May!

That gorgeous holiday

When ev'ry maiden prays that her lad

Will be a cad!It's mad! It's gay!

A libelous display!

Those dreary vows that ev'ryone takes,

Ev'ryone breaks.

Ev'ryone makes divine mistakes

The lusty month of May!

Travellin'

As mentioned earlier, this week I travelled to Cambridge Friends Meeting. It was nice to experience new people in a new place and learn about them.

I am not the only one travelling - others are going outside of their own religious traditions....

Real Live Preacher will be visiting a Quaker meeting, among other places, and says this:
And on Sunday mornings, I’m going to church myself. I’m going to walk into churches with nothing to do but listen. I'm of the opinion that most ministers need to sit down and be quiet sometimes. Maybe we would if we could. Well, I can now and I will. I will be silent. Here is where I will be this Sunday morning at 10 am. I’m joining a San Antonio community of Friends (Quakers) for a time of silent worship. I hear these people show up at worship with no agenda and no schedule. And no one has to say anything unless the Spirit leads.

I look forward to reading his posts, and recommend his whole post here.

In a similar fashion is Steve Fuller's goal of visiting 52 churches in 52 weeks. Quaker meeting is #16 - and I find it hilarious. It's not my experience, but then, I also keep going back for more!

In my own quest for knowledge... tomrrow eve is Matthew Fox in Portland. A guy who is bent on getting away from specifics, and finding a new way to talk about spirituality that won't make us all nuts. I'm very much looking forward to the weekend!

A Nice Little Video To Make You Smile.

Papiroflexia from Joaquin Baldwin on Vimeo.

"If your everyday life seems poor, don't blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is no poverty and no poor, indifferent place." —Rainer Maria Rilke

"I realized that seeing a sign isn't about the power of God, the Great Father, or the Buddah - whatever name you like to use. Seeing a sign is about the spiritual powers and the readiness of the observer. God is everywhere all the time, just beaming out beauty in unimaginable profusion. " - Mary Pipher

Wednesday Adventures

I realize this week has been a little full with the Quaker meetings and readings, but I think sometimes it's good for me to immerse myself in something fully as I'm learning.

Today was no exception. I've mentioned before how much I have enjoyed attending the Amesbury Quaker meetings, meeting everyone, and sharing in such a peaceful place. I was curious, however, to see if this experience would be similar if I was at another, different meeting for worship.

Today I was able to answer just that question, as I attended the Wednesday meeting of Cambridge Friends. Totally unfamiliar setting, people I didn't know - and yet somehow I felt that same sense of peaceful quiet, and sure enough, the few words spoken summarized directly what I was feeling at that moment. I have not taken the time to really ponder how the heck that works. For now, just observing. But it was quite a relief. I also met a very nice bunch of people.

Sunday's quarterly meeting was difficult for me - without bothering to rehash the details, I was concerned that I felt so differently from some others present. I spent a few days really bothered by that fact, as I could see no "solution" at the time. I still don't see a traditional "solution" to our differences, but I strongly feel that the way through any group's problems is to allow ourselves to see each other as we really are. Thus, in the spirit of getting to know this wider faith community better, I ended up in Cambridge.

I still feel so "at home" in Amesbury , and that is where I want to be considered a member. But I am glad to have meet such wonderful new Friends and been able to share for a moment in their experiences on this path!

Mary Dyer

Mary Dyer: Biography of a Rebel Quaker - Ruth Plimpton

The biggest review/complaint about this book is its level of writing - and at times it does read like a middle-school book report text. However, it is detailed in its account of Mary Dyer's life. I found it an enjoyable read.

Along with her many "crimes" against the Puritans of Boston, Mary Dyer had a still-born child, considered a "monster", who was secretly buried by Anne Hutchinson. This was seen as proof of her unholy choices. Dyer was led to the gallows once, among two other Quakers who were hung, but she was granted a reprieve. She later returned to Boston and was hung on June 1, 1661, for the crime of being a Quaker.

Anne Hutchinson

American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans - Eve LaPlante

A terrific account of Hutchinson's life and struggles. An outspoken woman with an obvious calling to ministry in a time and place that did not allow for it. Hutchinson was not a Quaker, but spoke often of her "inner voice" and resisted the Puritan doctrine of the time. She was also a great religious influence on Mary Dyer, who was later hung in Boston for being a Quaker. Hutchinson was expelled from Boston (this book has accounts of her trials), and late in life settled in New York until she and most of her family were killed in an Indian raid. There is a statue of Hutchinson at the State House in Boston.

Quaker Lane

I found Quaker Lane today!

A topographical and historical description of Boston By Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff (google books)
has a chapter on the Boston Quaker Burying ground, which is where Quaker Lane now is located.

Quaker Lane had come up a few times in various readings, but I just couldn't find the place. This time I made note of the address of the connecting streets, and there it was. It is a street about 300 yards long, with four intersecting streets coming into it. An odd configuration, it comes from the paving-over of the original cemetery paths. The bodies buried there were interred in Lynn, but the lane remains by State and Congress streets in the middle of bustling Boston.

This book is also great for mentioning Edward Wanton, who became a Quaker after the hanging of Mary Dwyer, and was a shipbuilder in Scituate. I'm still researching the Quaker connection there.

THE QUAKER BURYING GROUND

BOSTON. The Quaker Burying-Ground was established in the year 1709, in Leverett Lane,now Congress Street, opposite Lindall Street. In the rear of the lot the front of the Quaker meeting-house was built, and stood for 100 years. The interments in the grave-yard were comparatively few and infrequent. In 1826, the remains of the dead buried there, were removed to the Quaker burying ground in Lynn, Mass., with the exception of those of two adults, which were deposited in King's Chapel Burying-Ground. The business building first erected on this estate, after the removal of the graves, was occupied by the "Transcript" newspaper.

I will post pix when I can remember to take the camera in for my next trip.

Spring Concert

Quiet Day Today.

No grade 6 kiddos today - which means my schedule is blessedly light for a first day back from vacation! The grade is away for a week of team-building and outdoor education, they stay at a camp and come back closer than before, a real community.

This is been going on since I attended schools here, but due to my arthritis issues I was not allowed to go. In hindsight, it would have been a disaster to have me far from home and have to monitor my meds and health, and many of the activities I just could not participate in. So much of school has changed, it is much more accesable to many, and yet so much has still not.

I spoke of this with a musician in our band over the weekend - he's having arthirtis issues now at age 60, and he can't imagine having those same issues at age 4. Truthfully, I can't imagine NOT having those issues - the massive health struggles probably shaped who I am today. I'm not exactly in a place where I can say I am grateful for the struggles, but I will say it most likely gave me a sense determination that's stuck with me until now. Most importantly, it has helped my current relations with kids. Many of them have their own backstories that affect their learning. I know that even though I was one of the "smart" kids, on some days it was quite difficult for me to sit quietly with throbbing knee pain (especially when I got to high school -eek!). It really affected how I saw the world around me, and my interactions with others. I hope that it has at least led me to a place of kindness and compassion. Today maybe I'll try a little harder to put that into practice with my fifth graders who remain behind in my rehearsal room.

JRA info from the National Arthritis Foundation

No Child Left Behind. (i.e. you're all on the military's recruiting list)

each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings.

Link to NCLB's full policy here.

The "requests" are described here in such a way as to appear random and sporadic - they are not. The names of any child who is not covered by an "opt-out" parental letter is submitted. Those in low-income areas, or schools that do not have high college enrollment rates, are especially targeted for recruitment. I saw this happen in two districts I worked in - kids "suddenly" started getting letters.

Now, as a teacher, I have many educational complaints about NCLB. But how does sending these lists to recruiters possibly help a student's education? And if the school refuses, it can lose federal funding.

This came up in discussion over the weekend, and I was reminded to check out my own school district's "Opt-Out" policy. In some schools, the "opt-out" letter is actually contained in the informational packets given to all incoming freshmen.

More info about NCLB, and the pentagon's database (which requires a different letter for opting out) can be found here.

Storytelling - part deux. (Harry's tale...)

This is Harry. I've spent a great deal of time siting next to him in the past month, in the Merrimac Valley Concert Band. Sometimes all that rehaersing got to be a little tedious, sometimes my hands started hurting and I was musically useless, sometimes the wait time at the gig seemed very long indeed. Chatting with Harry made all that seem inconsequential.

Harry told me where he was when he heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. He told me about his training to enter the Army in World War II. How when he arrived in Germany, the war was over, and he played the saxophone for the troops in an Army band instead. His philosophy of life came through his stories - and it was a great philosophy indeed.

Sometimes at these gigs I get bored or cranky. Not this time. Thanks Harry!

Pix from the gig: http://picasaweb.google.com/cawheeler50/DanceDanceDanceAndEat#

Merrimac Valley Concert Band's Summer Schedule can be found on their website. Join us for a fun summer season!