Queries: Worship Sharing for Friends of Color

Ministry on Racism

Visible to everyone at FGC

Resources for newcomers:

What happens in Quaker worship?

What are queries?

5/29/2024 from Regina Renee Nyégbeh

The uses we make of sorrow are the measure of our spiritual growth.

Diana Lampen, 1996

This is a healing poem

For when you cannot dance

and cannot work

and cannot walk.

Concentrate on

the things you still can do.

Breathe

Dream

Love

Change.

Becky Birtha, 1991

Queries

Am I cultivating a discipline of spiritual awareness that will help me withstand the blast and blights of personal suffering?

In the midst of suffering do I look vigilantly for points of encounter with God?

What have I learned from the suffering in my life, and how am I using what I have learned?

From Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity

By Catherine Whitmire

5/15/2024 from Lynda Black

In the book The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz, he "reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, The Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love." (https://www.miguelruiz.com/the-four-agreements)

The Four Agreements are:

1. Be impeccable with your word.

2. Don't take anything personally.

3. Don't make assumptions.

4. Always do your best.

Do these agreements resonate with you? If so, how?

Or is it not so simple? Why?

Do they relate to Quaker principles and values? If so, how?

5/1/2024 from Euclid Bautista

“Ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang wika ay higit pa sa hayop at malansang isda.”

“He who does not love his own language is worse than an animal and smelly fish.” from the Filipino quote above that says,” - Dr. Jose Rizal, Filipino Revolutionary and Freedom Fighter weighs heavily on your heart today?

FGC FOC Queries for 5/1/2024

3/20/2024 from Euclid Bautista

“Analysis of death is not for the sake of becoming fearful but to appreciate this precious lifetime.” - Dalai Lama

What are your thoughts on what happens after death?

How would you like to spend the last 100 days of your life?

What would you like to be remembered for?

“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” - Harriet Beecher Stowe

3/6/2024 from Lynda Black

Waiting and Wonder.

"In a time when we have more access than ever before to the traumas of this world, how will you resist the tide of despair?" Cole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies

We are in the season of Lent. Spring is near.

What hope resides in you?

What is Spirit preparing you for?

What are you trusting the universe or Spirit to provide? What are you looking forward to?

“The world is full of painful stories. Sometimes it seems as though there aren't any other kind and yet I found myself thinking how beautiful that glint of water was through the trees." Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)

2/21/2024 Queries reused from 4/26/22 Euclid Bautista

The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. -Maya Angelou

Queries:

Have you found a home and what does it mean to you?

Where is home today and how does it sustain you?

Where would you like home to be and what steps do you need to take to get there?

2/07/2024 from Joan Crawford

The Making of a Mind: Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.

We are quite naturally impatient in everything

to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way

to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress

that it is made by passing through

some stages of instability—

and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;

your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,

let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on,

as though you could be today what time…

will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit

gradually forming within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing

that his hand is leading you,

and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself

in suspense and incomplete.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

excerpted from Hearts on Fire

QUERIES

As Quakers, we frequently proclaim that we are “led” by the Spirit when taking a particular action. Do we take care to not only discern the action but also when we should implement that action?

What is the danger of rushing into decisions? What might we miss in the intermediate stages of discernment if we impatiently take action before the time is right?

Teilhard’s poem/prayer reflects the expressions “way will open” and “in God’s time”. When were there times in your life that you have had to wait for “way” to open? What do you do when the Spirit’s time and your time are different?

How do you cope with the “anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete”?

1/24/2024 from Lynda Black

“There is no end to what a living world will demand of you...” -Octavia Butler

“Too often we are asked to participate in a form of repair that is synonymous with uniting. We are asked to become one again with our wounder or oppressor with no evidence that they've done anything to change... Sometimes the reconciliation we are after is with the self.” - Cole Athur Riley, Black Liturgies

“I don't want a seat at the table of the oppressor. I want a blanket and pillow down by the ocean. I want to rest.” - Tricia Hersey

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28, ASV

What wounds need attention? How will it be attended to?

In the midst of all the stuff we are experiencing - in all the ways we experience it - what is your balm? Do you need to pull it out the "drawer"?

Where is your rest? What is your relationship to rest?

"When spiders unite they can tie up a lion." Ethiopian Proverb. Are there others available to be with or support you in rest and/or repair?

1/10/2024 from Regina Renee Ward

I am Light by India Arie

my soul inside is all light

All light

All light, yeah

All light

I am light, I am light

I am light, I am light, yea

I am divinity defined

I am the God on the inside

I am a star

A piece of it all

I am light

What do these words say to you?

What does this mean for how I move about in the world?

What is my relationship with my soul?

12/27/2023 from Joan Crawford

O’Come, O’Come Emanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appears

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emanuel

Shall come to you O’Israel

https://youtu.be/01BcaggibDw

In many churches this song is sung at the start of Advent. The text dates back to the 8th century. “Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14, Mt 1:23) means “God with us.” The intent of the song was to remind people that “I (God) shall be with you tomorrow.”

(source: https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_o_come_emmanuel_and_ransom)

The enchanting melody and hopeful lyrics let you know that Christmas is right around the corner. It brings to mind all the joys that Christmas brings.But this year it is different…at least for me… because this song reminds me of the war in Palestine.

How has your life been impacted by the Palestinian-Israeli war and the wars in Ukraine and the Sudan?

How has your holiday season been impacted?

What will you do differently this holiday season?

Many Bible passages seem to glorify war. God tells one group of people to annihilate other people. How do you reconcile this with the belief in a loving God?

12/13/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

From the Dark with Black Liturgies Cole Riley

"You never tell all of the secrets when you're trying to get free." —Imani Perry

Explore a memory of a time when your story was not handled with care. How do you discern which parts of yourself or your story to share and what to hold close?

Do you believe it's possible to be fully known? If so, is this important to you? Why or why not?

What role did withholding (or "the mask" from Angelou's poem") play for Black ancestors?

11/29/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

“And as you lean into the Light, be gentle with the word “darkness.” For more than it merely means wrong or bad, it is also the color of a full, starless night sky, and actual bodies of human beings who have been overlooked too many times. Many, many words hold more than one meaning.” Morgan Harper Nichols

In Advent, we wait for God who refuses to let the darkness be colonized. If you find yourself thirsty for light in this season, remember: It’s the shadows that will save you in the desert places. Divine Refuge. As we wait, we remind ourselves that darkness (which is far too often reduced to a trite symbol for sin and death), actually has the unique capacity to bear the divine. In Advent, we reclaim the holy dark.

Queries

How are our metaphors of light and dark destructive to Black and Brown bodies?

How can the quiet darkness of Mary’s womb form us during Advent?

How does the dark function as a site of creativity and creation (in biblical texts or our lived experiences)?

11/13/2023 from Joan Crawford

“VISEO DIVINA”

Utilizing Kehinde Wiley’s Mary Comforter of the Afflicted I (2016)

https://kehindewiley.com/works/lamentation/

GUIDED MEDITATION

Sit in silence w/eyes closed. Invite the Spirit to guide you in this visual meditation.

Open your eyes and notice details of the image. What disturbs, glimmers, inspires, or challenges you?

Close your eyes and bring that particular detail to Spirit.

Open your eyes and view the piece a second time praying, “O Divine Spirit, what do you desire for me?”

Close your eyes and become aware of God’s presence.

Slowly open your eyes and focus on the image…breathe deeply. Put yourself and the content of the image in God’s care.

2. QUERIES

What aspects of the painting capture your attention?

What do you think and feel about what you see in the painting?

What is being said to you? To the world?

What is the painting asking you to become?

What might happen if you were to accept that invitation?

11/01/2023 from Joan Crawford

Halloween has just ended and Day of the Dead, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day have just begun.

Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, acknowledges the symbiotic relationship of life and death. (The departed come back to live with their families for one day.) All Saints' Day is dedicated to the saints of the church, who are in heaven. All Souls Day is set aside for those who have died, but have yet to attain heaven. All three are being marked on Nov. 1 and 2.i

FGC Queries for Agingii

If I knew my death was imminent, how would I devote my remaining time? Should I do any of that activity now?

If I died today or tomorrow, would I have any regrets? What would I have done differently to avoid regrets? Can I do something now to reduce or eliminate those regrets?

How can I develop a sense of completion about my accomplishments? Can I let go of the uncompleted parts of my life?

Where do you go? Where do those who have died go? Where will you go?

What motivates you to live a life that will make a positive difference? Death? Heaven? Hell? Altruism? A person? A cause? Spirit?

10/18/2023 from Lynda Black

A Palestinian-American member of the Quaker community recently posted this on social media:

“Part of being Palestinian-American is having to watch Israel treated as the US's ‘special ally’ and essentially the 51st state. We face the constant guilt that our tax dollars are funding the oppression and apartheid conditions faced by our families and people in Israeli-occupied Palestine. We also face systemic racism and the silencing of our voices. The campaigns of demonization of Palestinians and targeting of visible voices are in full force as we speak.

“The past few days have been grueling on so many levels, particularly as Israeli officials - in what has been described as the most far-right government in Israel's history - call for and carry out atrocities against Palestinians with full backing from American leaders. As I worry about my own loved ones back home and try to keep up with the staggering statistics on decimation of Palestinian lives and livelihoods, I also am grieving for Israeli civilians as they process the now unprecedented scale of killing they experienced this past weekend. I know Palestinians and Israelis who have been killed, maimed, displaced, or who are missing, and my heart is broken in a million pieces.

“It has also been painful to endure the barrage of accusations and suspicion. We are guilty until proven innocent. Palestinians, despite our immense heterogeneity like any other people, are writ large associated with Hamas. We are so often assumed to be sympathetic to Hamas and to the massacres they carried out this weekend that have resulted in over 1,000 Israeli deaths. Of course I am unequivocally opposed to the targeting of Israeli civilians. But it's demeaning for us to endure being asked to declare this so constantly.

“It’s also surreal to be pressured to muzzle ourselves about the 75 years of Israeli state-sponsored terrorism against the Palestinian people. For my 39 years of existence on this planet, my homeland has always been under Israeli military occupation, with massive violations of international law. Many of the same folks justifiably expressing horror about the murder and abduction of Israeli women, men, children, and the elderly have never uttered a word about the murder and disappearance of Palestinians, even though Palestinians have disproportionately shouldered the casualties of this conflict and settler-colonialism. Given the bias of mainstream US media, most Americans have never seen the countless images of Palestinian children being abducted from their beds and neighborhoods and taken to Israeli dungeons over decades now.

“The empathy and compassion that so many Americans have for Israeli life is beautiful. I hope that one day we will get to the point that this can also be extended to the Palestinian people as well.”

— In Palestine and across the world, there are degrees of civil unrest or war happening in communities of color. The atrocities are known and unknown. Let us take this time to share our prayers and thoughts for people in and of these regions and others impacted.

— What might be other ways to support people in or from these regions?

— Do you have family/friends in these regions?

If so, how can we support you?

— Please share anything else you feel moved to say.

10/04/2023 from Euclid Bautista

What is your “ikigai”, your driving force or purpose in life?

Who is in your “moai”, your circle of friends that support you?

What are the other elements of your life that bring you joy and sustenance?

09/20/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

What you are looking for is in the library

Michiko Aoyama

Translated by Alison Watts

What are you looking for? So asks Tokyo’s most enigmatic librarian.

“This inspirational tale shows how, by listening to our hearts, seizing opportunity, and reaching out, we too can fulfill our lifelong dreams.”

Early Friends were known as Seekers of the Truth”

Seek = look for

What are you looking for?

09/06/2023 from Euclid Bautista

“Geography is something that affects us, and we affect it; it is both an inner and outer experience. The outer experience is tangible—we can physically see and interact with the environment. The inner portion, however, is a journey that some of us go on, and one that we may go on without actually traveling very far. It is a journey of self-discovery.”

~ Dr. John Francis, author of Planetwalker.

How would you describe your relationship to the natural world?

What barriers do you feel or encounter when engaging with the natural world?

What are places you would like to visit?

06/27/2023 from Euclid Bautista

We are the ones we have been waiting for - June Jordan

Where do you see waves of vitality, vibrancy, and verve in our (or your) Quaker faith?

How are you surfing that wave, bearing witness to it, or sharing its good news?

06/13/2023 from Lynda Black

Caring for Home

One of the scribes asked Jesus which commandment was most important. "'The most important one,' answered Jesus,' is this: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these.'” Mark 12:29-31

Am I being a good steward of my relationship with Spirit?

Am I neglecting it as I care for/respond to/deal with others?

Does my concern about another's judgment or feelings about my actions interfere with my relationship with Spirit?

Do I need to take something off my plate (of activities or responsibilities)? If so, how do I improve my stewardship and reduce the weight of my plate?

05/30/2023 from Joan Crawford

Published on Academy of American Poets (https://poets.org)

Lift Every Voice and Sing

Lift every voice and sing,

Till earth and heaven ring,

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the list'ning skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,

Bitter the chast'ning rod,

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;

Yet with a steady beat,

Have not our weary feet

Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered.

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,

Out from the gloomy past,

Till now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,

God of our silent tears,

Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;

Thou who hast by Thy might,

Led us into the light,

Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,

Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;

Shadowed beneath Thy hand,

May we forever stand,

True to our God,

True to our native land.

From Saint Peter Relates an Incident by James Weldon Johnson. Copyright © 1917, 1921, 1935 James Weldon Johnson, renewed 1963 by Grace Nail Johnson. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.

Queries presented by Joan Crawford for May 30, 2023 Worship Share

Has this song been important to you? Why? Why not?

How do you feel when you hear this song?

What is your first recollection of this song? What did it mean to you then? Has the meaning changed?

How do you explain this song to others who are not familiar with it?

If you are unfamiliar with this song, what meaning do you get from it? How does it make you feel? Can you apply it to circumstances in your life?

Has this song inspired you? Has it inspired you to take a particular action?

Some people believe that the Bible and other Sacred Scriptures were inspired by God. Was this song inspired by the Spirit?

What ancestors do you envision when you sing or hear this song?

Is it possible that this song could be banned in our country?

05/16/2023 from Lynda Black

Entertaining strangers or strangers entertaining us.

"Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!" - Hebrews 13:2, New Living Translation

I had an experience with two little boys, who were strangers to me, several years ago. They were playing near the train station and the train had just pulled into the station. As I ran by them in hopes of catching the train, they had empathy for me. One of them, in their sweet voice said, they would use their super powers to hold the train. I got to the bottom of the platform stairs and the train pulled off. I missed the train, but not the blessing of my experience with them. After missing the train, I walked back to the place where they were playing, a bus stop, and we caught the bus together. I thanked them and said it was okay that I missed the train. Their superpowers worked in a very different way.

When was the last time you were blessed or received a favor (maybe it was simply a kind word) from a "stranger"? Briefly share the story if you can or like.

Share anything else that you feel led to share.

05/02/2023 from Euclid Bautista

“If you are free, you are not predictable and you are not controllable.” June Jordan.

What is your definition of freedom?

How do you do to create that freedom for yourself?

What do you do create freedom for others?

04/18/2023 from Joan Crawford

Worship Share – April 18, 2023

Joan Crawford

Revised Queries from 03/02/21

Throughout the Gospel, Jesus of Nazareth talks about “the kingdom of God.” It’s in the Lord’s Prayer or Our Father so millions of people refer to it each day: “…thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

What is the kingdom of God? What is our role in it?

During the last century some female theologians objected to the masculine use of “King” in “kingdom of God.” So, some now say the “kin-dom of God” or “the kinship of God”.

What is the kinship of God?

Scholars believe that Jesus’ primary language was Aramaic. They have uncovered that he used the word “malkuta” and through the ages that has been translated to mean “kingdom of God”. The scholar, John Dominic Crosan and others suggest that a more accurate translation of malkuta is “companionship of empowerment” – not “kingdom of God.”

Listen to what happens when “companionship of empowerment” is used in place of “Kingdom of God”

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

But seek first a companionship of empowerment and all these things will be added to you.

“Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (Luke 13:29-30) “Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in a companionship of empowerment Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

‘There!’ for behold, a companionship of empowerment is in the midst of you.”

“…thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

“…let there be a companionship of empowerment guided by love on earth as it is in heaven…”

And another from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians · “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20)

“A companionship of empowerment does not consist in talk but in power.”

Reread these Scriptures and ponder their meanings.

What is a companionship of empowerment?

Why is a “companionship of empowerment” threatening to civil and religious authorities?

Are you called to bring about a companionship of empowerment?

What is Spirit revealing to you?

04/03/2023 from Yumi Teresa Radtke Kawano

Has there been a time when you know Akua God intervened in a difficult situation?

03/21/2023 reused from Vanessa Julye

“As soon as healing takes place, go out and heal somebody else.” Maya Angelou

“No man is free until all men are free. No woman is healed until all women are healed. These are more than profound statements worthy of thought. They are the clues to the moral responsibility we all have for one another. Many of us hold on to our pain, afraid to reveal it. Ashamed to admit it. Others hold onto healing information because we believe it is ours to own. We may fight for the freedom of people of Color, but we say nothing when gays or women are oppressed. We owe it to ourselves and everyone else to see that all people live painless and free. It is our duty to share what we know if it has helped us to move beyond some darkness in life. We can talk it out or write it out, but we must get it out to those in need. We can support someone and encourage someone else to take healing steps or paths or ways. We should think about where we would be if there were no books or people to guide us when we need it. Then, with an open heart and extended hand, we can pull someone else along.”

“I am a valuable tool in someone’s healing process.”

From:Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of Color by Iyanla Vanzant

Queries:

What healing tools do I use?

What tools do I have that I can share with others?

Whatever else rises for you today?

03/07/2023 from Lynda Black

02/21/2023 from Joan Crawford

How has Quakerism influenced your understanding and celebration of Lent? The Last Supper? Crucifixion? Redemption? Easter?

What are you “giving up for Lent”? Doing for Lent?

How will you celebrate or observe Easter?

“The gospel of Jesus is not a rational concept to be explained in a theory of salvation, but a story of God’s presence in Jesus’ solidarity with the oppressed, which led to his death on the cross. What is redemptive is the faith that God snatches victory out of defeat, life out of death, and hope out of despair.”

-James H. Come, The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Many Christians have been taught - and have later rejected the notion - that “Jesus died for our sins”. Does James Cone provide a better explanation for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus? Redemption?

1/24/2023 from Lynda Black

Theme: What we believe.

What do we believe about our community?

What do we believe about community interdependence and interconnection?

Or what is on your heart today?

1/10/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

"There are two questions that we have to ask ourselves. The1st is 'Where am I going?' and the 2nd is 'Who will go with me?'

If you ever get these questions in the wrong order you are in trouble."

~Howard Thurman

How do you stay in your purpose?

How are finding your purpose and finding your community, related?

Is anything else rising for you?

12/27/ 2022 from Ernie Buschemi

In the midst of the holidays and the regular daily tasks how do you pause to be at rest and not stressed?

How does viewing rest as a relationship with yourself and your well-being rather than just something else that happen in my daily life change your idea of rest?

What's on your heart that needs to be spoken?

11/1/2022 from Regina Renee Ward

Audre Lorde wrote, “Nothing I accept about myself can be used against me to diminish me.”

Once you accept who you are, then who you are cannot be weaponized against you to make you ever believe that you are not worthy.

~Layla F. Saad

How do you work on remembering, reclaiming, and reintegrating the parts of yourself that you have been taught to reject?

The Psalmist wrote, “I praise you (Lord) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

How are you fearfully and wonderfully made?

“That of God in everyone,” is a phrase often used in Quaker settings.

What does it look like to see that of God in yourself?

10/25/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

How do you stay faithful? to self/to community

Where do you find joy?

When have you gone out of your way to serve others?

What's on your heart right here right now?

10/18/2022 Queries from Euclid Bautista

How do I draw friendly barriers with Friends that I may not want as friends?

What would I ask my Friends to do versus my friends?

How do I free myself from feelings and barriers to asking for material, physical or emotional support from F/friends?

How do I discern the level of privacy to maintain for my F/friends among other F/friends?

9/27/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

1. What's the temperature of your faith?

2. How are you exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in your life so that others are attracted to its Source?

3. What occasions stands out where you were memorably refreshed by the hospitality or welcome of others?

9/20/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

"My personal situation in life has given me a vantage point from which I've gained some insight into the problems of other excluded people."

–Richard Wright, The Outsider

Many of us have come to Quakerism from other religions and faith practices. This “outsiders” perspective is sometimes treated as a disadvantage, with the archaic term “Birthright Quaker” being used as a term of respect for those whose parents were also quakers. Yet coming to Quakerism as an adult can have its advantages too.

Queries:

What have you learned or noticed about the Society of Friends that comes from your adult point of view, informed by your life experience?

What from your personal faith practice would you like to see incorporated into Quakerism?

What is true in your life that you wish was true for more Quakers?

What else is rising for you today?

8/16/2022 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

"Did you know that the human voice is the only pure instrument? That it has notes no other instrument has? It's like being between the keys of a piano. The notes are there, you can sing them, but they can't be found on any instrument. That's like me. I live in between this. I live in both worlds, the black and white world." - Nina Simone

Queries:

Was the racial and ethnic make up of your family, your schools and the neighborhood in which you grew up similar or different from you?

How did this affect your experience growing up? Has your perspective on these effects changed over time?

Do childhood experiences with race and ethnicity influence your choice of faith community? How do they impact your experience with the divine?

8/9/2022 Queries from Ileana Clarke

”You can not wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.” - Navajo Proverb

I have chosen some queries from *NYYM’s Faith and Practice and added additional queries in parentheses that rose for me based on my experiences this summer at Yearly Meeting Sessions and the Gathering.

Queries:

Do we foster reverence for life?

(What does this look like for you?)

Do we strive to find, to understand, and to remove causes of misery and suffering? (How do you witness this deep seeking and action within yourself and/or others?)

Do we, in loving concern, extend assistance to those who require it?

(How are you able to do this for yourself, if/or when assistance has not been allowed to be extended?)

Please feel free to share whatever rises for you as led.

8/2/2022 Queries from Lynda Black

I was recently reminded of the power of encouragement.

It's a tool that builds, lifts and transforms. Sometimes it's delivered delicately, such as a very small encouraging event or occurrence that shifts something in us powerfully. Sometimes it's a rather large action that comes out of "nowhere" bringing joy which announces itself boldly and broadly. Encouragement is contagious, often far-reaching, and necessary.

Recently or anytime,

Do you recall something that encouraged you or a loved one? What was it? What happened? (For you, what did it feel like? How did it move in your body? Did it flow to another?)

Or what made you smile? What made a loved one smile?

Or what inspired you?

Or what or who gave you some love?

Please share if you are led.

7/26/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

One who is going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.

— Yoruba Proverb, Nigeria

Virtually all people and cultures have a version of the Golden Rule, famously expressed by Jesus in Matthew 7:12: “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” Sometimes this commandment feels difficult – do others want what we want? How do we know? Sometimes we can ask, while other times we must simply use our best judgment before choosing how to act. But perhaps we are not being asked to treat others exactly as we wish to be treated. If we truly consider their needs and desires, just as we would like them to do for us, then we are treating them as we wish to be treated, even if the actual acts performed are different. When we care for a baby, we respond to their need to be held, loved and nurtured, often in ways that we, as adults, no longer need. This sensitivity to others seems to be at the core of the Golden Rule.

When do you use the Golden Rule?

Does it ever feel difficult or unrealistic to treat someone else as you wish to be treated?

What could help you more deeply consider the needs and desires of someone else before acting?

What else rises for you today?

7/19/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN YOUR LIFE?

THINK ABOUT THE LIFE-CHANGING CHALLENGES AND SORROWS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED.

WHAT LESSON(S) HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THESE TRIALS AND CHALLENGES IN YOUR LIFE?

THINK ABOUT THE LIFE-CHANGING JOYS AND TRIUMPHS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED.

WHAT LESSON(S) YOU HAVE LEARNED FROM THESE EXPERIENCES?

FEEL FREE TO SHARE WHATEVER ELSE RISES IN YOU TODAY.

7/13/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

I look at joy as an act of resistance against despair and its forces … Joy in that regard is a work, that can become a state, that can become a way of life."

― Rev. Willie James Jennings

Joy is refreshing and renewing. When life feels heavy and oppressive, joy lifts us up and lets us feel free, if only for a moment. But when life is difficult and painful, joy can feel like an indulgence, a luxury. Reverend Jennings invites us to see joy not as a distraction from our struggles, but rather as integral to our survival.

What brings you joy?

Do you ever feel that you don’t deserve to feel joy, or that feeling joy could be wrong or inappropriate?

How could you choose joy in a difficult time?

What else rises for you today?

6/28/2022 Queries from Vanessa Julye

“As soon as healing takes place, go out and heal somebody else.” Maya Angelou

“I am a valuable tool in someone’s healing process.”

From:Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of Color by Iyanla Vanzant

Queries:

What healing tools do I use?

What tools do I have that I can share with others?

Whatever else rises for you today?

6/21/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”

― Chinua Achebe, Author

As Quakers, we can be drawn to the idea of universal Truths, such as “God is Love” or “The

Light of Spirit is in each of us.” Often, these ideas are foundational to our understanding of our

faith, and seem to transcend any personal opinions or attachments. Yet Chinua Achebe asks us

to acknowledge that our point of view will always influence our understanding of what is True.

Queries

● How has a belief (or disbelief) in universal Truths influenced your life and choices?

● Have you ever experienced a radical shift in your point of view, so that your view of

history or Truth changed?

● How do you reconcile what you used to think with your new view of what was true?

● Is it ever possible to see all sides of an issue and hold all perspectives at once?

● What else rises for you today?

6/14/2022 Queries from Ujima Friends Meeting

Queries:

Who or what do you feel accountable to? And when you feel accountable to them, what does it feel like?

How do you know you are being accountable?

What else rises for you today?

6/7/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

Every day, we all struggle with making good decisions. While experience is an important guide, we are still only guessing at the possible outcome of our choices. And how can we be sure about what makes a decision “good”? What seems good or right to us may have inadvertent bad consequences for someone else. This is especially true when it seems like all the choices available to us are bad, and we can only choose between “the lesser of two evils.” Usually we find a way to accept our imperfect decision making, but sometimes we can feel really trapped, unable to move forward from the fear of making a “bad” decision.

Queries:

How do you know when a decision is the right one?

Have you ever changed your mind about whether an important past decision was good or bad, and how did that process alter your feelings about yourself or your future choices?

Do you ever “give up” and turn the struggle over to your higher power? How can you tell that Spirit Is guiding you?

What elses rises for you today?

5/31/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

Queries:

What is on your heart today, right now as we gather?

As you look and move in the world as it really is, what keeps hope and faith alive for you?

What tools as a Person of Color do you use to continue to grow in your spiritual depth even as the Water is troubled? What are your knowings?

How are you living out the Peace testimony in your communities?

5/24/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford

And G!d says:

To love each other may require more discomfort than you’re ready for.

To love each other,

you may have to interrogate and scrub at the most embedded, complacent, defeated pieces of yourself.

To love each other,

you may have to call down your justifications, to haul back your excuses, to calm your snapping, snarling fears.

Anything less than showing up as you’ve been called to show up is not love.

Taken from A Book of Solace by Dane Kuttler

Queries:

What "discomfort" are you experiencing in the name of love?

How do you keep YOUR "discomfort" from becoming the focus of your intentions?

Do you consider your discomfort a sacrifice?

What role, if any, does sacrifice play in your spiritual journey?

Please feel free to share whatever the Spirit arises within you.

5/17/2022 none

5/10/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

To gain a sense of patience and tolerance, and an acceptance for what is happening, I find myself saying, “I am imperfect but I know God's plan is perfect.” I’ve heard other similar sayings, like “Such is life,” and “Everything happens for a reason.” These sayings help us survive, yet sometimes, I’m also afraid that they play directly into the hands of oppression, or encourage us to accept behavior that is truly unacceptable.

Queries:

The Bible tells us that our imperfections will fill us with Christ’s power.

What fills you with power?

How can that power be used for motivation as well as acceptance?

How do you lean into your faith without conceding to oppression?

5/3/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

Diamond Campbell, a high school powerlifter from Mississippi, was nearly disqualified at the state championship because of a recently added rule that disallowed specific hair ornaments, including beads. She was forced to sit out her first lift while she attempted to quickly remove dozens of beads from her hair. Girls from other teams gathered around her and began pulling out the beads so that she could make her next lift.

VIDEO

While she was grateful for the help from the other lifters, Campbell was also keenly aware of the reason for the regulations in the first place. “Clips, the beads, that’s in our culture,” Campbell said. “When they wrote the rules, they weren’t writing it for white people or other races. They were writing it for my people.”

The girls in the video made the choice to help Campbell pull out her beads and comply with a racist regulation. In that moment, obeying seemed like the only way forward. However, they equally could have made a different stand, such as all putting beads into their own hair, or staging a walkout. Thankfully, the video of the incident went viral, and the rule was thrown out.

Queries:

How do you decide what path to take when faced with an injustice?

How do you navigate the line between care and inadvertently maintaining oppression or exclusivity?

What experience do you have taking a stand? What did you do?

4/26/2022 Queries from Euclid Bautista

The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. -Maya Angelou

Queries:

Have you found a home and what does it mean to you?

Where is home today and how does it sustain you?

Where would you like home to be and what steps do you need to take to get there?

4/12/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford

Queries for the week of Good Friday and Easter

Holy Thursday and Good Friday are this week. Easter is on Sunday. Has your spirituality been informed by these “holy days”? What do these observances mean to you now?

What is resurrection? How has Quakerism influenced your understanding and celebration of Easter? How will you celebrate or observe Easter?

“The gospel of Jesus is not a rational concept to be explained in a theory of salvation, but a story about God’s presence in Jesus’ solidarity with the oppressed, which led to his death on the cross. What is redemptive is the faith that God snatches victory out of defeat, life out of death, and hope out of despair.” ― James H. Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree

What are the similarities between the cross and the lynching tree? How would you explain what is meant by the cross and the lynching tree to White Americans particularly White Christians?

Many Christians have been taught - and have later rejected the notion - that “Jesus died for our sins”. Does James Cone provide a better explanation for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus? Redemption?

4/5/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

(Note: This goes with the below twenty second video clip of the world's strongest woman Tamara Walcott breaking her own deadlift record of 641 lbs)

“Lifting

is 80% mental.” – Tamara Walcott, world record holding powerlifter

What do you avoid because you don’t think that you have what it takes? Have you ever “started from scratch” only to realize you were further along than you thought? What would you attempt if you knew that you were already 80% of the way to your goal?

https://youtu.be/Gj41ObQuqRQ

3/28/2022 Queries from Lynda Black

A question to God/Spirit/Universe or FITB (fill in the blank) with your preference:

Do you need me?

3/22/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

In the Feminist Mystic, Mary Giles invites us to be guided by a dynamic love:

To live and to love and to create are one. In living, loving, and creating we move in mystery, alert to possibility, bereft of models from the past and without hint of one to come.

In the absence of models, we experience absolute freedom, and in freedom, risk, responsibility and the joy of being opened to whatever the moment may bring forth in us.

How are you walking in the Spirit? How do you experience absolute freedom?

A favorite passage that seems to touch my soul is from the Gospel of John: "Anyone who does not know love is still in death."

I believe love heals......love is hope and life. Are you living to love?

How do you know peace? How does it feel in your body? How does peace and love sustain your spiritual solidarity to be a community of faith, transforming our world?

Where is your heart and mind today?

Celebrate the women in your life, today and always

3/15/2022 Queries from Lori Patterson

The white folx in my yearly once again are up in arms over anti-racism language.

“Could we use "pro" language instead of "anti-racism"? I think it would make communication more open”

“The "anti" language sets up confrontation and inspires guilt. Positive language will draw people in without the negativity”

“We would like our name to reflect our positive intent rather than being against something”

How can being against racism not be positive? What these questions are telling me is that these white folx are not doing their work. Many books on anti-racism talk about these defensive questions so they are either not reading these books or clinging to defensiveness (or both?).

So today the query comes from Toni Morrison:

https://youtu.be/n2txzMkT5Pc

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https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVP.tlYo_gmaTmDFsf7Jpl_19QHgFo&pid=Api



White People Have a Very Very Serious Problem - Toni Morrison on Charlie Rose

RIP Toni Morrison. FANTASTIC clip from the Charlie Rose Show.

www.youtube.com

Is there anything else that arises for me today?

3/01/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

What

is a loving service for another? Doing something that helps, eases a burden, or that brings joy, pleasure and love. Sometimes service is difficult, and involves putting the other person first...for a while, not forever. But if the service is too difficult, painful, or frustrating, or even worse, leaves one feeling shame, regret or embarrassment, then that’s not service. In performing acts of love for another person, we need to know that it’s always ok to say that something feels too hard or that it’s simply undoable.

Somewhere

between those two places, between possible service and giving too much, is a place that asks us to stretch, to listen longer, to try even harder than we think we can.

What

kind of people or situations make you dig deep into that challenging place? How do you accept another person's very different point of view? What rewards have you reaped or lessons have you learned from these challenges? How to fight with loving kindness?

2/22/2022 Queries Lori Patterson

White quakers can be exasperating but also may have some potential. There are many faith traditions that are not so open and compassionate. So I'm questioning if white Quakers are worth all the trouble? Should Black/Brown folx just stick together and not even bother with white folx? And yet, they hold the keys to power. And some of them might be accomplices.

-Yami Hayes, 2 years ago

These issues have been addressed in past queries so I thought I would bring them up again.

Queries:

Why is racism not addressed within the peace testimony and how do we get white Quakers to see that?

How can we present the issue of white supremacy in a way that European American Friends can understand that they too will get something from racial justice?

As Friends of Color, what contributions do we bring into the world, the Religious Society of Friends, or both?

Is there anything else that arises for me today?

2/15/2022 Queries Regina Renee Ward

“Friends who have experienced love in the fellowship of the “gathered community” can demonstrate to the wider community what love can do in the following ways…We need to listen in love to the black people of America and to submit ourselves to the violence of their words and actions if we are to identify truly with their anguish and despair.”

"Black Power's Challenge to Quaker Power" Barrington Dunbar 1968

Queries:

What does it mean to you to “listen in love”?

How can I show "what love can do" for racial justice?

How do I show my love for the divine?

In what ways has divine love been manifested in my life?

Our love languages reveal a lot about how we give love to others, but how does it apply to ourselves? What is my self-love language? How do I remind myself that I am worthy of love?

2/8/2022 Queries reused from 11/9/2021 Euclid Bautista

This year’s Central Committee of Friends General Conference (FGC) chose to use queries based on ones we as Friends of Color (FOC) created in the last 18+ months. Here are some from one of the days of Central Committee 2021.

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

- Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light

• Where do I receive the strength to continue mypeace and justice work?

• Spirit wants us to experience joy. Yes, we can do the hard things. But how do we support each other in finding things that bring us joy?

• How do we rest in spirit when there is so much work to be done?

• How do we remind each other that a rested mind/body can accomplish more than a weary one?

2/1/2022 Queries Joan Crawford

Luke 4:25-27

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to (your) span of life?[c] 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,[d] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28

Queries:

What are you afraid of?

How do you cope with your fear? your anxiety? the unknown?

How would your life change if you had no fears?

Are there prayers, poems, music, scripture or other spiritual practices that help to calm your fears?

You are free to share whatever Spirit places on your mind and heart.

1/25/2022 Queries Ernie Buscemi

What characteristics do you hold of value about being a Friend?

2. How have these values shaped your life for better or worse as we move in this

Society?

3. What keeps you rooted and grounded in your faith? When off balance what brings you

back to solid ground?

4. What is the condition of your heart today?

1/18/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

In the past political cultures meant the erasure of the darkest involved. Afro Arab solidarity centered the lightest, as did a dream of Latindad erase Indigenous and Afro culture.

Queries:

What can we learn from these failures as we forge our solidarity.

What does that mean for you personally.

What else is rising for you today?

1/11/2022 Queries from Lynda Black

Day 11 of a brand new year. Some people make a habit of setting goals or making resolutions when a new year begins. Some have a practice of choosing one simple word to express their personal aspirations or intentions. Perhaps you did the same or something similar with your spiritual life or faith walk as the focus. Sometimes its very personal. Sometimes sharing with others is cool and might help it come to life.

Queries-

Did you set an intention for the year? What is your intention? Why?

Do you have aspirations regarding your spiritual life? A goal for the year?

Maybe you chose a word. What is the word? Why did you choose that word?

Or what is on your heart today?

Please share as you are led.

1/4/2022 Queries from Lori Patterson

“Train yourself toward solidarity and not charity. You are no one's savior. You are a mutual partner in the pursuit of freedom”- Catrice M Jackson

This is a good message for white quakers. Their patronizing messages of “How can *we* bring more FOC to *our* meetings?” or “What can *we* do *for* FOC?” makes me want to scream. Whatchou mean “we?” Why are you doing things “for” us and not with us? Baldwin said we are all bound together by the nature of oppression. These sentiments show the cluelessness of white quakers. They don’t know their place in the nature of oppression. This is a spiritual process: digging deep within yourself to become aware of our wider culture of racism and oppression and how it infects quaker culture and quaker action.

Queries-

How do you set firm boundaries with white quakers who can not see the spiritual nature of oppression?

What is the work we need to do to maintain safe spaces for FOC and to keep moving forward within a system of oppression?

Is there anything else that arises for me? Is there anything else more pressing?

12/28/2021 Queries from Regina Renee Ward

On July 28, 1917 W. E. B. Du Bois organized a parade of African Americans that ran down Fifth Avenue from 59th Street to 23rd Street. Dressed in white, and silent except for a muffled beat of drums, thousands marched in protest of the recent mob violence and lynchings in Waco, Memphis and East St. Louis. https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/1917NAACPSilentProtestParade

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https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/sites/default/files/styles/opengraph_image/public/1917_silent_protest_parade_photograph_copy.jpg?itok=Dr4oBHpT

1917 NAACP Silent Protest Parade, Fifth Avenue, New York City | Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library

The July 28, 1917 Silent Protest Parade on Fifth Avenue in New York City was one of the first major mass demonstrations by African Americans. Conceived by James Weldon Johnson and organized by the NAACP with church and community leaders, the protest parade united an estimated 10,000 African Americans who marched down Fifth Avenue, gathering at 55th–59th Streets and proceeding to Madison ...

beinecke.library.yale.edu

Silence is a fierce resistance against the violence of a world whose words are not for us. In a world where we are constantly expected to articulate our dignity, we will rest. @BlackLiturgies

Queries:

Our ancestors used silence as an act of resistance.

How do I use silence today?

How is Spirit calling me to use silence as an act of resistance?

How do I decide when to speak and when to remain silent?

What role does Spirit play in guiding my decision?

12/21/2021 Queries from Joan Crawford

Holiday Season=

Christmas, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Channukah, Yuletide, Saturnalia, Festivus

Queries-

· How has the holiday season changed for you over the years? What is ritual? What is real? What nurtures your spirituality

· How have the Holiday Season celebrations contributed to (or impeded) your spiritual formation?

· Does our spirituality allow us to celebrate the Holiday Season in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty?

· Is there a “reason for the season”? If so, what is it?

· What would Jesus say is the meaning of Christmas?

12/14/2021 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

Chicken Little

by Nathan and Raven Moon

The idea that civilization will soon come to an end in a cataclysmic global event has

been the cornerstone of many world religions and cultures. Whether it will be with fire and brimstone or human driven environmental catastrophe, “The End” continues to drive narratives of fear, pessimism and despair – all while benefiting the rich and powerful.

These negative feelings about our future options can keep us from examining the consequences of frantically ringing alarm bells about climate change. It’s obvious that humans have negative impacts on the planet, but in many ways today’s doomsday climate predictions foster injustice

and racial inequities. For example, conservation ideology can lead to reactionary policies that drive inflation. Then higher prices disproportionately hurt poor buyers, while profits soar. Additionally, dogmatic fears of world overpopulation contribute to inequities in obstetrics for women of color. Black women are twice as likely to experience infertility issues than white women, but according to Zero Population Growth (ZPG) believers, the lowered birth rates represented by this horrifying statistic are something to celebrate.

Similarly, since the vast majority of the world's crude oil is controlled by Arab countries, anti-fossil fuel rhetoric is usually accompanied by thinly veiled racist Islamophobia.

Queries:

Are there places in your life where you have “given up” because the rhetoric is so dire? What will it look like to change our treatment of the planet without invoking fear tactics? How can we build momentum through inspiration and the pursuit of equity?

12/7/2021 Queries from Regina Renee Ward

Queries

How are our metaphors of light and dark destructive to Black and Brown bodies?

How can the quiet darkness of Mary’s womb form us during Advent?

How does the dark function as a site of creativity and creation (in biblical texts or our lived experiences)?

11/30/2021 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing- 1 Thessalonians 5: 18-17

There is so much to be grateful for, and yet how easy it is to take our blessings for granted.

Queries:

Where is your attention?

What blessings are you taking for granted?

What's on your heart today?

11/23/2021 Queries from Lori Patterson

It's been (another) hard week. The news is not good. And it seems like it’s getting even harder within our meetings. This month's business meeting was particularly rough, with much white performance and defensiveness. There were white accomplices who came to my aid that helped. I’ve also been listening to two albums (see how old I am?) that never get old. That's the Way of the World by Earth, Wind and Fire and Songs in the Key of Life

-Stevie Wonder

Queries:

Do you have any white accomplices in your meeting or in your life who have your back?

What music do you listen to when times get tough?

(In case there is something more pressing for me)

Is there anything else that arises for me today?

11/16/2021 Queries from Joan Crawford

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

· Is it possible to love your neighbor as yourself?

· Is self-sacrifice a requirement for love? If so, is this reasonable?

· How do you love someone who does not love you or even like you?

· If someone harms you, are you still called to love that person?

· Can “loving everyone” be counterproductive especially for those who are oppressed?

· How do we practice loving others?

11/9/2021 Queries from Euclid Bautista

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”

- Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light

• Where do I receive the strength to continue my peace and justice work?

• Spirit wants us to experience joy. Yes, we can do the hard things. But how do we support each other in finding things that bring us joy?

• How do we rest in spirit when there is so much work to be done?

• How do we remind each other that a rested mind/body can accomplish more than a weary one?

11/2/2021 Queries from Lynda Black

What is our responsibility to one another?

What are you called to do in service to the beloved community? What is the extent of this service?

How are you called to serve/support those you consider family? What is the extent of this service?

10/26/2021 Queries from Bertha Pena

What is the Inner Light/Spirit for me? What does it mean? What represents it?

(A reminder that a valid answer is also “nothing/I don’t believe in that”)

(In case there is something more pressing for me) Is there anything else that arises for me today?

10/19/2021 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

We have become “Americanized” in so many different ways, including through enslavement, coercion and choice. On these journeys, pieces of our cultural identities have been stolen, lost, and even purposefully abandoned. This includes our names and histories, flavors

and recipes, clothing and rituals. What pieces of your essential self feel missing? What have you worked to reclaim? What is different in your life or inside of you when you take back a piece of your identity? What else is rising for you today?

10/12/2021 Queries from Zae Illo

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19, RSV

"...In order to be true to God and to ourselves we must break with the familiar, established and secure norms and go off into the unknown.”

(Thomas Merton, Contemplative Prayer, Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Image Books, 1971)

Queries:

1) What does the “new thing” of worship informed by our persons of color look and sound like? Does Ujima give us a foreshadowing?

2) Are there parts of yourself that are not welcome among Friends (food, music, etc)?

3) What might happen when we begin to break the “new” in among wider Friends?

For example, Jesus “broke” with traditional interpretations of Judaism but taught in synagogues and dressed rather conservatively.

Matthew 14:6 and Luke 8:44 report Jesus as wearing tzitzit or tassels on his clothes. These were tassels worn by pious Jews to remind them of their relationship with God.

Yeshua (Jesus) brought a “new thing,” a new culture, without totally rejecting his tradition.

What is our work now to prepare the way for a “Kingdom of heaven” of many colors?

10/5/2021 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

As I mature with each pasting day, I discover in me a sense of letting go of the (Who is?----What ifs?----Who can?....... and the list continues. With each pasting day instead, I'm looking within to a deeper Authority which continues to ground me in this life to do the work I'm called to do.

-Ernie Buscemi Journal entry 5/03/96

Queries:

1. Where do you receive the strength to continue you peace and justice work?

2. How does your sense of authority and integrity go hand and hand?

3. Are we each preparing ourselves for a more integrate way of working within the Religious Society of Friends and beyond as we stretch and grow in this our community of color?

4. What's rising in your life and heart, right now?

9/28/2021 Queries from Lori Patterson

The only money the government can find for Black/Brown folx is for planes to deport them when they are seeking sanctuary, desperate to live. People in the US are more concerned with missing white girl syndrome than anguished immigrants. What kind of spirit participates in this kind of inhumane treatment?

It’s times like these that question and test my faith in humanity. I’ve heard some white folx say they can’t imagine what the immigrants at the border are going through. This is a huge problem. No imagination. For historically underrepresented groups, our imagination,

our ability to dream is a large part of our faith.

The problem is that white people are so comfortable they have no imagination of suffering. If this is true what then can we say about their faith?

How do we give energy to F/friends and the community as a whole that don’t love us Black/Brown folx?

9/21/2021 Queries from Lynda Black

What is the language of Spirit?

How does Spirit get your attention?

How does Spirit speak to you? Does Spirit use symbols or signs to speak to you?

9/14/21 Queries From Bertha Pena

What is my relationship to fear?

How does fear help me? How does it effect me in a negative way?

Is there anything else that arises from me today?

9/7/21 Queries from Lori Patterson

‘Silence is racisms best friend.’

-James Cone in Risks of Faith

James Cone writes about Black Theology and Black Liberation. He is critical of the Christian faith for not doing the work of anti-racism furthering the harm to ALL of us through anti-Blackness. He believed that Black Power is in itself a theology. Originally written during the Black Power movements of the late 60s, his words still resonate today and the questions he raises have still not been answered. Namely “What kind of Christianity is it that preaches love and practices segregation?”

What theological meaning can we find in our fight for justice?

How do we make racism visible in our meetings, in our personal lives and in the world?

8/31/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

As a Friend, "What are the rituals (if any) do you have that help you to center?

Do you spend more time using technology than you spend in solitude with the Divine?

What new insights have you gained from the Divine? Your community?...over the Summer of 2021?

What is rising on your heart right now?

8/24/21 Queries from Nathan Moon

We are born with many gifts that are then shaped by people and events in our lives.

What do you know about your original self?

Who or what pivotal experiences have changed you the most?

How does Spirit help you understand your own personal evolution?

What are you feeling right now?

8/17/21 Queries from Euclid Bautista

One of our Quaker testimonies is around community.

So what does that mean to me?

What is the Quaker community I envision?

What do I do to draw Friends and my community towards me and to one other?

When has my community been there when I was in need?

What are the ways I have felt I was heard and listened to in my community?

When have I served my community where I felt well used and not abused?

8/10/21 Queries from Bertha Pena

Is there a link between nature and the spiritual? If so, what is it?

What is my responsibility as a human towards nature?

Is there anything else that arises for me today?

8/3/21 Queries from Joan Crawford

WHERE DO THEY GO?

“In the movie, my character, Claire Danes, asks the question "Where do they go?" people ask me if I have found out "where they go" since that time. Here is my answer:

That is one of life's great questions. When I think about it, I get motivated to life a life that will make a positive difference. (Temple Grandin)

www.templegrandin.com/faq.html

What motivates you to live a life that will make a positive difference? Death? Heaven? Hell? Altruism? A person? A cause? Spirit?

(From FGC Queries for Aging - https://www.fgcquaker.org/spiritual-deepening/library/aging-death-and-dying/queries-aging-death-and-dying)

If I knew my death was imminent, how would I devote my remaining time? Should I do any of that activity now?

If I died today or tomorrow, would I have any regrets? What would I have done differently to avoid regrets? Can I do something now to reduce or eliminate those regrets?

How can I develop a sense of completion about my accomplishments? Can I let go of the uncompleted parts of my life?

Where do you go? Where do those who have died go? Where will you go?

7/27/21 Queries from Euclid Bautista

I often hear Friends say (and I have said it as well) I want a more diverse and inclusive beloved community. While that is a lofty goal what are am I doing towards that goal particularly in the ways I decolonize our Meetings, their policies and practices?

In what ways can we make our work and decisions as a community more transparent to the community?

How does our guidelines and process for membership serve and/or harm our community?

In what ways do our practices and processes not serve us very well? What new ways can we envision?

7/20/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

From Romans 12:6-8

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a person's gift is prophesying, let them use it in proportion to their faith. If it is serving, let them serve; if it is teaching, let them teach; if it is encouraging let them encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let them give generously; if it is leadership, let then govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let them do it cheerfully.

Friends and others talk about the "Blessed Community"..............What needs to change in our Society/meeting to achieve your vision of the "Blessed Community"?

Is fairness the first move to getting the Society/meeting in a place of healing as we seek the Blessed Community? Or is it forgiveness?

What is grace and how does it fit ?

And finally....what is sitting on your heart right now?

7/13/21 Queries from Lynda Black

July 13, 2021

As a Deer Panteth (lyrics)

As the deer panteth for the water

So my soul longeth after Thee

You are all that my heart’s desire

And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

To you alone may my spirit yield

You alone are my heart’s desire

And I long to worship You

Psalm 42:1-11

A deer longs for streams of water. God, I long for you in the same way.

I am thirsty for God. I am thirsty for the living God. When can I go and meet with him?

My tears have been my food day and night.

All day long people say to me, “Where is your God?”

When I remember what has happened, I tell God all of my troubles.

I remember how I used to walk along with the crowd of worshipers.

I led them to the house of God. We shouted with joy and gave thanks as we went to the holy feast.

My spirit, why are you so sad? Why are you so upset deep down inside me? Put your hope in God.

Once again I will have reason to praise him. He is my Savior and my God. My spirit is very sad deep down inside me.

So I will remember you here where the Jordan River begins.

I will remember you here on the Hermon mountains and on Mount Mizar.

You have sent wave upon wave of trouble over me. It roars down on me like a waterfall.

All of your waves and breakers have rolled over me.

During the day the Lord sends his love to me. During the night I sing about him.

I say a prayer to the God who gives me life. I say to God my Rock,

“Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go around in sorrow? Why am I beaten down by my enemies?”

My body suffers deadly pain as my enemies make fun of me.

All day long they say to me, “Where is your God?”

My spirit, why are you so sad? Why are you so upset deep down inside me?

Put your hope in God. Once again I will have reason to praise him.

He is my Savior and my God.

· When low, what refreshes your spirit or your spiritual life?

· What quenches your spiritual thirst when you are dry?

· Is the place or thing you turned to still serving you? Is there something more you need?

· How can your Quaker community serve you in this area?

7/6/21 Queries from Lori Patterson

Britney Spears spoke out about her abusive conservatorship and many folx came to her side to defend her claiming she is a slave. At the same time swimming caps designed for Black hair won't be allowed at the olympics because authorities claim they do not conform to a “natural form of the head.” There is so much anti-Blackness in the news this week.

How do we stay strong in light of this “news?”

How are you feeling about the role of white people doing anti-racism work? Can they be trusted?

6/22/21 Queries from Bertha Pena

What does home mean to me? What represents it? Wht feels like home?

Is there anything there anything else that arises for me today?

6/15/21 Queries from Joan Crawford

“VISEO DIVINA”

Utilizing Kehinde Wiley’s Mary Comforter of the Afflicted I (2016)

https://kehindewiley.com/works/lamentation/

GUIDED MEDITATION

Sit in silence w/eyes closed. Invite the Spirit to guide you in this visual meditation.

Open your eyes and notice details of the image. What disturbs, glimmers, inspires, or challenges you?

Close your eyes and bring that particular detail to Spirit.

Open your eyes and view the piece a second time praying, “O Divine Spirit, what do you desire for me?”

Close your eyes and become aware of God’s presence.

Slowly open your eyes and focus on the image…breathe deeply. Put yourself and the content of the image in God’s care.

2. QUERIES

What aspects of the painting capture your attention?

What do you think and feel about what you see in the painting?

What is being said to you? To the world?

What is the painting asking you to become?

What might happen if you were to accept that invitation?

6/8/21 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

The very foundation of Quaker culture is shaped by racist policies and traditions. In

unprogrammed meetings, many of us have been hurt by racist ministry only to find that there’s

no policy in place to stop the hateful speech. This lack of a “hard stop” for unacceptable

behavior is racist and drives away Friends of Color. There are also more subtle examples of

racist policy that effectively shape the culture of our meetings, covering every topic from the how newcomers are welcomed to the food that is served. Often, it doesn’t feel possible to address these issues because they have been part of our meetings for generations. As Friends of Color, how can we be empowered to name all the places that need concrete change? What anti-racist policies will end racist, abusive ministry? What other anti-racist policies need to be enacted in your Quaker meeting?

6/1/21 Queries from Euclid Bautista

How do I find the spirit of love and community in Worship or a Meeting when I am just f’ing tired and pissed off by yet another insensitive myopic white supremacy comment or offering?

How do I find the spirit in what is welling inside of me if so much of what I feel is anger and righteous indignation?

How has the spirit demanded you to speak in tones and words that roil the placid waters of Worship or a Meeting? Or did you hold back, why and how did it feel then and afterwards?

How do our Meetings and Worship quell the voice of anger and outrage? How do we discern when it is appropriate and when it has gone beyond the measure of truth that needed to be spoken, and what do we do?

5/25/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

This is a journal entry for my grandkids dated May 20, 2020 three months into COVID restrictions and a few day before the murder of George Floyd:

Accept me for what I am

What I have been

What I will be

Give of yourself to you..To me..To others

Learn from the past.....Live in the present

Delve into the future

Love with respect. Hate with apathy

Not with vengeance......

Believe in yourself, in me , in others and

the Divine

Your Grandmother

Friends, we have journey together through joys and sorrows since 2020 and the queries for today are:

How are you different from a year ago?

What have you learned about self? others? our Society of Friends and our society?

In what way has your understanding of faith and practice been transformed?

5/18/21 Queries from Bertha Peña

“Studies have shown that forgiving others produces strong psychological benefits for the one who forgives. It has been shown to decrease depression, anxiety, unhealthy anger, and the symptoms of PTSD. But we don’t just forgive to help ourselves. Forgiveness can lead to psychological healing, yes; but, in its essence, it is not something about you or done for you. It is something you extend toward another person, because you recognize, over time, that it is the best response to the situation.”

Excerpt from Robert Enright’s Essay Eight keys to forgiveness

1. Have you ever forgiven someone for a major offense?

2. Have you ever been forgiven for a major offense?

3. Why is it sometimes hard to forgive?

4. Is there anything else that arises for me today?

5/11/21 Queries from Lori Patterson

In the new book You Are Your Best Thing, contributing author Austin Channing Brown discusses the concept of foreboding Joy. In this concept Black/Brown people displace their moments of joy as they fear that it will not last. Especially in light of the heightened racism happening right now. She recommends acknowledging our spirituality born of hardship and share in a resilience rooted in joy. To not let our pain drown out our joy.

In what ways do you “withhold excitement in preparation for disappointment” as Ms Brown says?

In what ways do you celebrate your joy?

5/4/21 Queries from Lynda Black:

In a series of passages in the book of Mark, Jesus engages in a conversation with the Pharisees, Sadduccees, and scribes. One of the scribes asked Jesus which commandment was most important. "'The most important one,' answered Jesus,' is this: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." There is no commandment greater than these.'” Mark 12:29-31

"Love your neighbor as yourself." This healthy perspective of caring for ourselves as Jesus commands is a necessary foundation for caring for others. And caring for ourselves involves caring for our relationship with Spirit.

We spend large amounts of emotional, physical, and/or intellectual energy caring for or considering how to care for or respond to the emotions and struggles of our Meeting communities, individuals in our Meeting communities, and an assortment of others. They do impact us and, yes, we should love as stated. But are we neglecting ourselves and our relationship with Spirit in the process?

The vessel cannot sufficiently/accurately carry the work, the wine, the truth, if it is not in order.

So, in that context...

Am I in right relationship with Spirit in regard to my activities? Am I being a good steward of my relationship with Spirit or am I neglecting it as I care for/respond to/deal with others?

Is my concern about another's judgment or feelings about my actions interfering with my relationship with Spirit?

4/27/21 Queries from Bertha Peña:

1. What legacy would I like to leave in this life?

2. What am I doing to support the next generation(s)? How would I like to support them?

3. Is there something that is stopping me? What is it? How can I remove what is stopping me?

4. Is there anything else that arises for me today?

4/20/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

At this writing we are awaiting the verdict for the death of George Floyd,..... while Daunte Wright and Matthew Williams’ families and friends prepare for their burials...... and the many Asian-Americans and Asian-Pacific who continue to be attacked daily here in the US is outrageous........ and still no gun control laws just mass shooting across this country of 4 or more lives gone. I'm overwhelmed with pain, grief and anger and reminded of this quote by Maya Angelou:

“You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the object of its displeasure.

So use that anger. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote it. You do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it.”

How are you coping with the added stress of current events? What's in your toolbox/best practices?

As Friends our Quaker culture does not handle anger well; so how does being angry thrust you into meaningful action in your Meeting? On your job? In your life?

What's on your heart for today? Let your heart speak

4/13/21 Queries from Lori Patterson

“I preach darkness. I don't inspire hope—only shadows. It's up to you to find the light

in my words.”

― Charles Lee

This past weekend at the White Privilege conference Dr. Joy DeGruy (scholar and

author of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and

Healing) noted that when white people talk about family, and Black/Brown people

talk about family, there are two different conversations going on. She cited a study

that tested children and their connection to family that concluded that building

family ties, having a strong sense of belonging to a larger family, not just along blood

lines, helps build a strong sense of self because they know that they belong to

something bigger than themselves. For Black/Brown people then, family is something

more than something you can measure, it is something you can use to build resiliency

It would seem that white supremacy does not want Black/Brown people in their

family. There is so much resistance. If only white supremacy could see the benefit to

itself of embracing this idea then we all could belong to a more loving family.

What are some ways you build resilience in your family, however you define family?

Dr. Joy DeGruy also noted with all that has happened in the past year that we might

be “on the precipice of change.” Not so much in white supremacy but in the minds of

Black/Brown people to build their own resiliency. Have you noticed any changes in

yourself in this past year that have made you feel more resilient?

4/6/21 Queries from Joan Crawford

Donald Williams, a witness to the killing of George Floyd, made the following statement under cross-examination when the defendant’s attorney described Williams as getting “…angrier and angrier…” upon witnessing Floyd’s death. In response Williams stated:

“I grew professional and professional. I stayed in my body. You can’t paint me out to be angry.”

“This phrase (“stayed in my body”) is based in Cultural Somatics - see My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem. Williams is saying that he remained aware of his body sensations in a mindful way so that he could steward his nervous system's response to this situation and not get carried away into a fight-or-flight response. When you stay in your body, you may sense tension rising, feel your stomach tighten, notice that your cheeks are getting hot, etc. Just noticing these helps you get some emotional distance from the situation so that you can respond calmly.”

Rie Algeo Gilsdorf, English Language Learner (Digital)*

“The phrase resonated. “I stayed in my body.” Williams remained in control. He maintained focus. He was attuned to his movements and gestures. He didn’t let emotions take hold. He didn’t relinquish his soul.”

Robin Givhan, The Washington Post**

“He (Jesus) recognized with authentic realism that anyone who permits another to determine the quality of his inner life gives into the hands of the other the keys to his destiny.”

Howard Thurman

Jesus and the disinherited. Beacon Press, 1996

In terms of Quaker practice what are the similarities and differences between “being centered” and “staying in your body”?

How has your practice of Quaker spirituality helped you to deal with trauma particularly racial trauma?

Have you had to “center” yourself or “stay in your body” when called to testify in court or within any other intimidating situation? Would learning how to “stay in your body” help?

Resmaa Menakem believes that everyone living in the USA has experienced trauma resulting from white supremacy. How do Friends of Color deal with their collective and individual trauma?

Reflect on Howard Thurman’s statement. How has this played out in your life?

How do you express righteous anger without letting emotions take hold? Without relinquishing your soul?

* https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/280227/what-does-i-stayed-in-my-body-mean

** https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/30/donald-williams-chauvin-trial-floyd/

3/30/21 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

We are all aware that a person’s “good intentions” do not lessen the painful impact of thoughtless, foolish or outright racist behavior. When we have brief, hurtful interactions with strangers, often we choose to shrug off these microaggressions to preserve our sanity. However, there are people and places in our lives where we have to carefully balance intention and impact over long periods - often years. In these cases, we may think about the same behaviors in a different way, as we decide if the total sum of good actions, service, or loving behavior outweighs individual painful incidents. Consider how you weigh intent and impact in difficult relationships in your life. How do you know when there is no longer a benefit to continuing the relationship? How does Spirit call you to lay the relationship down, honoring what has been good as well as what has been painful? What could make it possible to relate with the same people or communities in an entirely new way?

3/16/21 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

Black Activist, intellectual, and writer Assata Shakur warned … “No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them,” actress Lena Horne reminded us, “You have to be taught to be second class. You’re not born that way,” and poet Audre Lorde famously wrote, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” In America, so many of us and our children have received a public education paid for with taxpayer dollars. What price have we paid for this so-called “free” education? Is it possible to lay down what we’ve been taught and fashion our own implements for change? What does this self-education look like for you?

3/9/21 Queries from Raven Moon

Historically, our country has venerated leaders who actively supported slavery, prevented voting access for women and people of color, and suppressed the rights of oppressed people in countless ways. Recently, some frustrated citizens have shown their disgust with this misguided worshiping by pulling down statues of these famous figures. They have toppled or defaced statues of former presidents, confederate generals, newspaper editors, conquistadors, and wealthy slave owners, among many.

Recently, a large bronze bust depicting the Black explorer York appeared in a park in Portland,

Oregon. The sculpture was placed there by an anonymous artist at the former location of a statue which was removed by protesters last year. York was enslaved by William Clark, of the famed duo Lewis and Clark, and their journey mapping North America was only possible with the addition of York’s work. He was not given his freedom after the exploration, and was in fact kept at hard labor for many years after the trip. The beautiful depiction of York is a very belated but fitting tribute to a man who has been almost completely unrecognized for his important role in America’s history.

The Black artist, feminist and writer Toni Cade Bambara said, “The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.” Ironically, at times this moving quote has been mis-attributed to Pablo

Picasso. What ancestors, spirit guides and unsung heroes do you want our community, and our culture at large, to bring to the fore? How can we best honor them, making sure they get proper credit for their work and influence? And how can the work of artists tie our community – both past and present -- together, and make forward movement impossible to resist?

3/2/21 Queries from Joan Crawford

Taken from the Lord’s Prayer

“…thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

Consider these words from Jesus of Nazareth

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

“Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (Luke 13:29-30)

‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

And one more from the Letter of Paul to the Corinthians

“For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20

What does the “kingdom of God” mean? What does it mean to you? How has The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) informed your understanding of the Divine?

Now let’s substitute COMPANIONSHIP OF EMPOWERMENT for KINGDOM OF GOD.

“…let there be a companionship of empowerment on earth as it is in heaven…”

But seek first a companionship of empowerment, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)

“Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat within companionship of empowerment. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (Luke 13:29-30)

‘There!’ for behold, a companionship of empowerment is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

“For the companionship of empowerment does not consist in talk but in power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20

MALKUTA is an Aramaic word. Scholars believe that Jesus’ primary language was Aramaic so he would have used “malkuta”. The scholar, John Dominic Crosan suggests “companionship of empowerment” is a more accurate translation – not “kingdom of God. To me and other progressive Christians this is a radical departure from what we have been taught and from what we routinely express in the traditional Lord’s Prayer.

What is a “companionship of empowerment”? Why is it a radical concept?

Why is it threatening to civil authorities and church authorities?

Does the use of MALKUTA (companionship of empowerment) change the meaning of the Lord’s prayer for you? Could this be the focus of the entire Gospel?

Are you called to bring about a companionship of empowerment? How?

Malkuta Blessings,

Joan

From the Aramaic

Lords Prayer

Translation by Neil Douglas-Klotz in Prayers of the Cosmos

O Birther! Father- Mother of the Cosmos

Focus your light within us - make it useful.

Create your reign of unity now-

through our fiery hearts and willing hands

Help us love beyond our ideals

and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures.

Animate the earth within us: we then

feel the Wisdom underneath supporting all.

Untangle the knots within

so that we can mend our hearts' simple ties to each other.

Don't let surface things delude us,

But free us from what holds us back from our true purpose.

Out of you, the astonishing fire,

Returning light and sound to the cosmos.

Amen.

Some early Christian groups sought to maintain Aramaic, the language of Jesus. As early as Constantine, translations of the Lord’s Prayer and other scripture appeared. You can find information at the following website: www.thenazareneway.com/lords_prayer.htm(link is external)

The Lord’s Prayer (based on the original Aramaic).

Source: John Dominc Cross, The Greatest Prayer.

O Cosmic Householder, Source of our wisdom, protector and provider,

embracing all that dwells in the Heavens, naming all for holiness and justice,

in the Companionship of Empowerment, spread throughout the entire creation,

as willed by Holy Wisdom.

In justice, may all be sustained by daily food, and relieved of the burden of crippling debts.

Lead us not into collusion with any type of violence and deliver us from all forms of violent oppression.

For yours is the empowering desire to radiate on earth the non-violent justice of enduring hope.

2/9/21 Queries from Joan Crawford

The Growing Edge

“Look well to the growing edge. All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new lives, fresh blossoms, green fruit. Such is the growing edge! It is the extra breath from the exhausted lung, the one more thing to try when all else has failed, the upward reach of life when weariness closes in upon all endeavor. This is the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on when times are out of joint and men have lost their reason, the source of confidence when worlds crash and dreams whiten into ash. The birth of the child--life's most dramatic answer to death--this is the growing edge incarnate. Look well to the growing edge!”

from FOR THE INWARD JOURNEY---The Writings of Howard Thurman

Queries:

What new growth are you carrying? What support do you need to sustain your deep roots?

What does it mean to the Religious Society of Friends to have new life? fresh blossoms? green fruit?

Does your assessment of the ground behind you and grounds presently before you suggest that you stay the course or chart a new direction as you move through this growing edge/rebirth?

What's on your heart?

2/2/21 Queries from Bertha Peña

1. What does freedom mean to me?

2. What makes me feel free?

3. How do I support others who are not free?

4. Is there anything else that arises for me today?

1/19/21 Queries from Joan Crawford

An excerpt from Howard Thurman's eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Black Fire, 2011, Quaker Press of Friends General Conference)

"Tonight there is a vast temptation to strike out in pain, horror, and anger; riding just under the surface are all the pent up furies, the accumulation of generations of cruelty and brutality. A way must be found to honor our feelings without dishonoring him whose sudden and meaningless end has called them forth. May we harness the energy of our bitterness and make it available to the unfinished work which Martin has left behind. It may be, it just may be that what he was unable to bring to pass in his life can be achieved by the act of his dying. For this there is eloquent precedence in human history. He was killed in one sense because mankind is not quite human yet. May he live because all of us in America are closer to becoming human than we ever were before."

I invite you to reflect on this and share if you are moved.

1/12/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

Here are the queries for today's worship sharing session and thank you for posting:

In the light of current events in Washington, DC how are you staying grounded?

Is there a poem or song/hymn or story that has strengthened or encouraged you in these difficult times?

What's rising on your heart/mind?

How do you nurture your commitment to living the testimonies on a daily basis as part of your pursuit of justice and peace?

1/5/21 Queries from Nathan Moon

We’ve talked a lot recently about the many symbols of new beginnings: The new year, solstice, even the inauguration of a president. We all have concerning areas in our lives where we are hoping for a fresh start. Think about how you mark new beginnings for yourself and start anew. What opportunities might you find if you are able to approach your fears or concerns in a whole new way? How will you know that things are different?

12/29/20 Queries from Joan Crawford *

12/22/20 Queries from Bertha Peña

1. What am I grateful for that happened in 2020?

2. What did I learn in 2020?

3. What can I expect for 2021?

4. Is there anything else that arises for me today?

12/15/20 Queries from Bertha Peña

1. How do I work together with people who have a different experience than I do?

2. How do I support and empower others, such as women, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA, etc?

3. How am I working on my own decolonization?

4. Is there anything else that arises for me today?

12/8/20 Queries from Regina Renee

“In order to critique legitimately and to resist, while being unrelentingly hopeful in God's promise, it is necessary to know 'what time it is.' We must be able to read the signs of the times in order to know how God is calling us to respond in this moment. The first step, which cannot be bypassed, is public expression of the grief for the pain and darkness in the world.

This mourning is necessary to overcome the numbness that we all live in, so that we have the energy and vision to name something new, to create and envision a way of life that is unimaginable in our present situation." Christina Repoley, 2006

Queries from FCNL Annual Meeting:

What do I need to grieve right now so I can envision a better world?

In what ways am I working for justice, mercy, truth, and peace in my daily life?

From where does this work arise?

How am I called to recognize, support, and love that of God in every person during and beyond this time of deep social change?

How can I make my love and support known?

What "something new" can you envision right?

12/1/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

I Dream A World

I dream a world where man

No other man will scorn,

Where love will bless the earth

And peace its paths adorn

I dream a world where all

Will know sweet freedom's way

Where greed no longer saps the soul

Nor avarice blights our day.

A world I dream where black or white,

Whatever race you be.

Will share the bounties of the earth

And every man is free,

Where wretchedness will hang its head

And joy, like a pearl,

Attends the needs of all mankind-

Of such I dream, my world!

-Langston Hughes

What do you carry on your heart today, right now? What do you envision for the world...Religious Society of Friends...yourself?

Why is it so difficult to change course, to take a new path, to go in a new direction?

What is the "necessary baggage" that we need to carry when we step off the road we have been traveling and head off in a new direction?

11/24/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes

"There is a great diversity within the Quakers on conceptions of God, and we use different kinds of language to describe religious experience. Some Quakers identify with Christianity and will use similar language. Others are happy to use God-centered language, but conceive of God in very different terms to the traditional Christian Trinity. Some describe themselves as agnostic, humanist or non-theists, and describe their experience in ways that avoid the use of the word God entirely." (Minute and Epistle of the gathering of non-theist Friends at Woodbridge Quaker Study Center, Britain, 2011).

Our unprogrammed meetings are attended by Buddhists, Jewish, Christians and non-theist Friends...

How can we, as Friends of color, go from the single story of Christianity to a multiple story of other faiths and experiences, where our diverse Friends would feel accepted, welcomed, included and validated?

How do we create a space where Friends of color will feel comfortable speaking from other perspectives besides Christianity?

What else arises in our hearts and minds as we ponder these questions??

11/17/20 Queries from Nathan Moon

As Friends of Color, We can feel underrepresented, overlooked, and too often downright disrespected in our local home meetings. Yet clearly there are other possibilities for how we might feel.

Why or why not do you remain committed to your home meeting?

How does your vision of the future of Quakerism influence that commitment or lack thereof?

11/10/20 Queries from Bertha Peña

How do I work together with people who have a different experience than I do?

How do I support and empower others, such as women, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA, etc?

How am I working on my own decolonization?

Is there anything else that arises for me today?

11/3/20 Queries from Joan Crawford

The Making of a Mind: Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.

We are quite naturally impatient in everything

to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way

to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress

that it is made by passing through

some stages of instability—

and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;

your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,

let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on,

as though you could be today what time…

will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit

gradually forming within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing

that his hand is leading you,

and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself

in suspense and incomplete.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

excerpted from Hearts on Fire

QUERIES

As Quakers, we frequently proclaim that we are “led” by the Spirit when taking a particular action. Do we take care to not only discern the action but also when we should implement that action?

What is the danger of rushing into decisions? What might we miss in the intermediate stages of discernment if we impatiently take action before the time is right?

How do you cope with the “anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete”?

10/27/20 Queries from Nathan Moon

Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger Book by Lama Rod Owens

“How do you use anger and rage triggered or arising from trauma in your life to further your spiritual life and journey towards love?”

10/20/20 Queries from Regina Renee Ward

Spirit wants us to experience joy. Yes, we can do the hard things. But how do we support each other in finding things that bring us joy?

How do we rest in spirit when there is so much work to be done?

How do we remind each other that a rested mind/body can accomplish more than a weary one?

Is there anything else that arises for me today?

10/13/20 Queries from Lynda Black

The rise of hate groups acting out, the consequences of the November US presidential election, the global pandemic and other matters - large and small - concern many. Concern us. Consequently, some people are deeply engaged in high levels of emergency preparedness. Emergencies are uncomfortable. We don’t like to think about them. Many of our lives are already on some level uncomfortable. Considering more may be near unbearable.

How does this speak to you?

Has Spirit spoken to you/Is Spirit speaking to you about how to be in an emergency?

As a community, as people who are members of other communities, what is our calling or directive in emergency circumstances?

What is our prayer?

10/5/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

1. What strengths, insights, gifts do you bring to Meeting from earlier religious experiences?

2. In Meeting for Worship, what helps you to worship, or nurtures worship for you?

3. When have you felt the ministry of another person?

4. Where are you on your spiritual journey? Are you satisfied with where you are?

9/29/20 Queries from Bertha Peña

What does it mean to “pray for someone” / “hold someone in the Light/in prayer/in the love”?

Do you believe in the power of prayer? What is it for you?

What other forms of “holding someone” are there?

Is there anything else that arises for me today?

9/22/20 Queries from Joan Crawford

94 Lord, you are a God who punishes; reveal your anger!

²You are the judge of us all;

rise and give the proud what they deserve!

³How much longer will the wicked be glad?

How much longer, Lord?

⁴How much longer will criminals be proud

and boast about their crimes?

⁵They crush your people, Lord;

they oppress those who belong to you.

⁶They kill widows and orphans,

and murder the strangers who live in our land.

⁷They say, “The Lord does not see us;

the God of Israel does not notice.”

⁸My people, how can you be such stupid fools? When will you ever learn?

⁹God made our ears—can't he hear?

He made our eyes—can't he see?

¹⁰He scolds the nations—won't he punish them?^[^a^]

He is the teacher of us all—hasn't he any knowledge?

¹¹The Lord knows what we think;

he knows how senseless our reasoning is.

¹²Lord, how happy are those you instruct,

the ones to whom you teach your law!

¹³You give them rest from days of trouble

until a pit is dug to trap the wicked.

¹⁴The Lord will not abandon his people;

he will not desert those who belong to him.

¹⁵Justice will again be found in the courts,

and all righteous people will support it.

¹⁶Who stood up for me against the wicked?

Who took my side against the evildoers?

¹⁷If the Lord had not helped me,

I would have gone quickly to the land of silence.^[^b^]

¹⁸I said, “I am falling”;

but your constant love, O Lord, held me up.

¹⁹Whenever I am anxious and worried,

you comfort me and make me glad.

²⁰You have nothing to do with corrupt judges,

who make injustice legal,

²¹ who plot against good people

and sentence the innocent to death.

²²But the Lord defends me;

my God protects me. New American Bible (Revised Edition)

QUERIES

Minute Worship Share

Do you read the Bible, the writings of Friends, and/or the Sacred texts of other faith traditions to seek new light, new spiritual understanding?

Do you hear the Spirit’s voice when reading or listening to these texts?

Do you find comfort and inspiration in our Sacred texts? When you are distressed, do you turn to our Sacred texts?

When you feel uncomfortable, confused, or perturbed with Scripture how do you resolve the tension?

Do we limit ourselves to reading Sacred texts from an intellectual perspective or do we open ourselves to the Spirit’s leadings

Do we open ourselves to the Spirit’s leadings and trust that enlightenment will be made known…in God’s time?

9/15/20 Queries from Nathan Moon

The road to Jericho is full of criminals and thieves.

In the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) Christ extolled the virtues of the merciful Samaritan, who went out of his way to attend to a Levite victim of violence. The Samaritans were sworn enemies of the Levites, yet the Samaritan treated the beaten man like a brother. Christ tells us that we will be judged on what we do, not who we are. This means to love thy neighbor, no exceptions, and to show mercy to them. But this seems to only address the victim of violence, not the perpetrator, and focuses on making a “neighbor” out of an enemy.

In our modern world, in 2020, we are aware that too often, the “perpetrators” of violence are

often victims themselves, of abuse, violence, poverty, hunger, and more. And more likely than

not, they are not our enemies, but our friends, our fathers, our brothers and sisters. Without

excusing their crimes, and considering the whole of their story, what does it mean to show

mercy to all of our neighbors, even those whose actions are called criminal? How does Spirit

move you to respond to those who hurt others, as well as those who are hurt? What does it

mean to love thy neighbor, no exceptions?

9/8/20 Queries from Lynda Black

"Is the life I am living the same as the life that wants to live in me?...Let your life speak...

Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent." - Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

What is the calling I hear?

9/1/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

During this time of social injustice, health crisis and political unrest in what ways does your life embody your faith?

Where is the balance between speaking truth and keeping quiet, trusting the sense of the 'meeting'?

What does the peace testimony mean to you? In societal confrontations? In government and policy making?

Why do our prayers matter at this special time in history?

8/25/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes

One of Friends' fundamental ideas is that "there is that of God in everyone".

What does that mean to YOU?

Does your understanding of it influence the way you live?

Is God an entity?

Have you experienced "an inner guide" or "source of truth".

8/18/20 Queries from Bertha Peña

What helps me center/find my inner peace in my day-to-day? What connects me to Spirit/the Divine?

What things/thoughts prevent me from centering/connecting to Spirit?

What recharges me and gives me energy?

Is there anything else that arises for me today?

8/11/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O Lord of hosts,

my King my God,

Happy are those who live in your house,

ever singing your praise.

Psalm 84:3-4

What is the connection between spirituality and "being home"?

Where is "home" for you?

Speak about ways your spirituality does or doesn't strengthen your sense of "home"?

8/4/20 Queries from Lynda Black

This past Sunday morning I woke up with the question "Who is George Fox?" While in Sunday morning's Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Annual Sessions' Meeting for Worship, more questions arose within me about Fox. Within the context of our experiences in larger, diverse Quaker bodies, I present these queries for consideration.

What did Fox believe?

Are any of his beliefs contrary to Friends today?

What would he say to us (BIPOC Friends) today? What would he say about the current or recent uprisings and other events in our communities?

What would he say to the Religious Society of Friends?

7/28/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes

As part of Divinity, people of color also carry the face of God in our countenance; we are important; we belong in every space, and without our presence, contributions and perspectives the world -and the Religious Society of Friends- would be lesser. In fact, incomplete.

As Friends of Color, what contributions do we bring into the world, the Religious Society of Friends, or both?

7/21/20 Queries from Zae Illo

How we feel as a person of color.

What we need to serve as nonviolent interrupters if we witness such acts?

What, if any, fears we have when we hear police sirens or see them in uniform?

7/14/20 Queries from Nathan Moon

Friends, The recent events following George Floyd's Murder have proven the power of uprising. As I said yesterday, because of my life story, because I was not born a Quaker, I have struggled the hardest with our Peace testimony. I want to offer my Query as a stepping off point for re imagining Peace.

Query: Early Quakers said “Neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for your own possessions will you fight war. “ But Christ did not stand in the temple at Jerusalem pleading for people to leave. Jesus made whips from cords (John 2:13-16) and drove the people out with their animals. Within a week of the incident he was tried and Murdered. How does Christ’s story inform you, and/or how does our peace testimony guide your decisions and your spiritual life? Are there “money changing tables in the temple” that you want to overturn, and how does that line up with your understanding of peace?

For me, I believe our Peace Testimony is too often the luxury of those who do not have to be afraid. I wonder how I have to change to line up my own sense of self with the peace testimony. I wonder, how do I as a Friend of Color, define war. If not for god or my possessions, will I wage war for love, for the lives of my son and daughters and for their freedom of body spirit and mind?

7/7/20 Queries from Bertha Peña *

6/30/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

But I say to you listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Luke 6: 27-28

•In a world like ours, is Jesus' advice naive and foolish or profound and practical?

•What are the ethical implications of believing that there is God in everyone?

•During this painful and soul searching time which ways has your faith been tested? What do you do in the face of such testing?

6/23/20 Queries from Lynda Black

Text for reference - Faith and Practice

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 - New American Standard Bible

1. In this season of calling out inequity, injustice, and violence, many are calling organizations and individuals to make changes to how their work is conducted, with whom they associate or how they conduct their personal activities.

Personally, what changes, might I be called to make? Are there ways in which my vocal or other behavior might be considered contrary to the ways in which I am called?

Do I behave in ways contrary to what I ask others to do in the name of equity, inclusion and non-violence?

2. "When Friends decide to disobey the law in accordance with divine leading, it is expected that they will act openly and make clear to the authorities the spiritual grounds of their action. If the decision leads to legal penalties, Friends generally suffer willingly. Friends not personally involved in such actions can strengthen the meeting community by supporting fellow members with spiritual encouragement and, when necessary, with material aid." - Faith and Practice (link above)

In this context, if called upon to support another materially - F/friend - how would I respond?

What preparations or systems might be necessary to assist me if I am called upon or led to provide aid?

3. What does it mean to lay down one's life?

6/16/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes

After the murder of George Floyd, and the way the police attacked and mistreated the protestors demanding justice, many cities across the country are calling for withdrawing funds from their police departments ...

As Friends of color, how do we feel about defunding the police?

Is there a spiritual reason why Quakers -including those of European descent- should support decapitalizing the police?

Beside any spiritual grounds for doing so, are there any other basis we can think of for defunding the police?

4/28/20 Queries from Vanessa Julye:

Responses to Racial Crises

“Violence is the experience of non-white people everywhere in the Christian world. Aime Cesare says in his Discours sur la colonialism: ‘It seeps from every crack in Western civilization as a bloody sea.’”

There seems to be a real gap between our deepest religious beliefs as Friends and our actions with respect to the racial violence which is so prevalent in the work today. It thus misses the point to single out one nation in a discussion of the vexing problem of racial violence.

Yet one must begin somewhere, and I have been asked to write about Friends’ responses to racial crises with particular reference to the United States.

In America racial injustice characterizes every aspect of society. It is obvious and visible. The social ills of the ghetto – crime, high school dropouts, unemployment, dope addiction, and the loss of personal dignity – these are no longer hidden. The uprising of frustrated ghetto residents has emphasized the need for drastic changes in conditions affecting their lives.

What happens when an act of faith turns into a religious dogma? Cannot Quakers today demand faithfulness of one another?

Richard Stenhouse explains the reason for the absence of black people from membership in the Society of Friends in his article, No Time But This Present saying: “The first unmistakable fact about many present-day members of the Society of Friends, a fact any Negro would not miss, is the degree to which some Friends have accepted the conventional attitudes and social practices of a segregated society…

As a consequence of saying ‘yes’ to a segregated society, Friends must share with all white Americans the very real distrust that black Americans have of them…

Barrington Dunbar, Friends’ Responses in the USA, Seven Essays Break the New Ground, Friends World Committee, 1969, pgs. 85-93

Intention Accompanies Effect

I’ve come to understand that when I arrive at Quaker worship, I bring my whole self, both the fullness of my identity and my life experiences. As a person who identifies as Black and a woman, largely operating in the dominant White culture of Quakerism in Philadelphia, I’ve become aware of the unwritten norms that underlie Quaker faith and practice–and worship in particular.

There are times in a meeting for worship (and elsewhere) when I feel downright rageful: triggered by someone’s good intentions that either fall flat on me, leave me scratching my head in curiosity, or shaking in the heat of my own anger…Not only do we need to learn skills to care for ourselves and our emotions in the moment, but we also need to understand that those good intentions, even when Spirit-led, are not a license to ignore their unintended impact on others. Even as we gather for meeting for worship and offer Spirit-led vocal ministry, this too is within a broader societal context of structures, systems, and institutional that further oppression and racialization.

A reframe for Quakers would be to take a deeper exploration of our good intentions. How do our intentions affect others, either intentionally or unintentionally? How might we look deeper at our intentions and align them with our values? What do we do individually and as a corporate body when this happens? How might our good intentions further support our own implicit bias?

Valerie Brown, How to be an Inclusive Quaker: The Unwritten Norms of Speech and Silence, Friends Journal, March 2020, pgs. 18-20

Queries:

As Friends of African descent both Barrington and Valerie see White culture in Quakerism as a barrier for Friends of Color. How does White culture restrict my heart, spirit and connection to my meeting?

Do opportunities to meet with other Friends of Color nourish my spirit? In what ways does this time together heal some of the trauma experienced in our meetings?

How have suffering and grief affected my spiritual formation? Where do I feel God at work in me during these times?

In what ways do I feel Held during times of trouble as well as times of joy or peace?

5/19/20 Queries from Vanessa Julye

*Eternal Fathering: Thou who hast chosen to include me in Thy plan for the world, and who hast done such wondrous things for me, I thank Thee. Grant me the wisdom, the knowledge, and the understanding that I need under all circumstances, so that I can accomplish that which Thou desirest. Amen.

**Natural beauty comes in all colors, strength in many forms. When we learn to honor the differences and appreciate the mix we are in harmony. Unknown

Spiritually, we are all family. We are mother, father, brother, sister and children of one another. As spiritual family we are inseparable. We all breathe the same air that is connected to the same Source; we are all connected to the same Source by the rhythm of breath. Just like a family, we will have our differences, yet we can be different and still be a family. Just like a family, we will have our rebels and out casts, but we must still include them in the family circle. Just as the family sits and eats together, we must make certain that there is enough for everyone. Just as a family comes together and shares, we must stop holding back and taking away from the family. Blood may be thicker than water, but it is the water of life that will keep us connected. As we learn to see each other through our spiritual eyes the physical differences will cease to matter.

Today I will honor all of my relations.

Queries:

Who is missing from our family circle? How can we make sure everyone is included?

What am I holding back, taking away or contributing to the family?

Am I seeing conflict with my spiritual eyes?

*Daily Notes to God: A Devotional Experience, Noel Palmer, p.50, 2012

**Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of Color, Iyanla Vanzant, May 20^th, 1993, Fireside, NY

5/5/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes

Why is racism not addressed within the peace testimony and how do we get white Quakers to see that?

How can we present the issue of white supremacy in a way that European American Friends can understand that they too will get something from racial justice?

4/28/20 Queries from Vanessa Julye

Responses to Racial Crises

There seems to be a real gap between our deepest religious beliefs as Friends and our actions with respect to the racial violence which is so prevalent in the world today. It thus misses the point to single out one nation in a discussion of the vexing problem of racial violence.

Yet one must begin somewhere, and I have been asked to write about Friends’ responses to racial crises with particular reference to the United States.

What happens when an act of faith turns into a religious dogma? Cannot Quakers today demand faithfulness of one another?

As a consequence of saying ‘yes’ to a segregated society, Friends must share with all white Americans the very real distrust that black Americans have of them…

Barrington Dunbar, Friends’ Responses in the USA, Seven Essays Break the New Ground, Friends World Committee, 1969, pgs. 85-93

Intention Accompanies Effect

Valerie Brown, How to be an Inclusive Quaker: The Unwritten Norms of Speech and Silence, Friends Journal, March 2020, pgs. 18-20

Queries:

As Friends of African descent both Barrington and Valerie see White culture in Quakerism as a barrier for Friends of Color. How does White culture restrict my heart, spirit and connection to my meeting?

Do opportunities to meet with other Friends of Color nourish my spirit? In what ways does this time together heal some of the trauma experienced in our meetings?

How have suffering and grief affected my spiritual formation? Where do I feel God at work in me during these times?

In what ways do I feel Held during times of trouble as well as times of joy or peace?

Queries: Worship Sharing for Friends of Color
5/29/2024 from Regina Renee Nyégbeh
5/15/2024 from Lynda Black
5/1/2024 from Euclid Bautista
3/20/2024 from Euclid Bautista
3/6/2024 from Lynda Black
2/21/2024 Queries reused from 4/26/22 Euclid Bautista
2/07/2024 from Joan Crawford
QUERIES
1/24/2024 from Lynda Black
1/10/2024 from Regina Renee Ward
12/27/2023 from Joan Crawford
12/13/2023 from Regina Renee Ward
From the Dark with Black Liturgies Cole Riley
11/29/2023 from Regina Renee Ward
Queries
11/13/2023 from Joan Crawford
11/01/2023 from Joan Crawford
10/18/2023 from Lynda Black
10/04/2023 from Euclid Bautista
09/20/2023 from Regina Renee Ward
What are you looking for?
09/06/2023 from Euclid Bautista
06/27/2023 from Euclid Bautista
06/13/2023 from Lynda Black
05/30/2023 from Joan Crawford
05/16/2023 from Lynda Black
05/02/2023 from Euclid Bautista
04/18/2023 from Joan Crawford
04/03/2023 from Yumi Teresa Radtke Kawano
03/21/2023 reused from Vanessa Julye
03/07/2023 from Lynda Black
02/21/2023 from Joan Crawford
1/24/2023 from Lynda Black
1/10/2023 from Regina Renee Ward
12/27/ 2022 from Ernie Buschemi
11/1/2022 from Regina Renee Ward
How do you work on remembering, reclaiming, and reintegrating the parts of yourself that you have been taught to reject?
How are you fearfully and wonderfully made?
What does it look like to see that of God in yourself?
10/25/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
10/18/2022 Queries from Euclid Bautista
9/27/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
9/20/2022 Queries from Raven Moon
Queries:
8/16/2022 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon
8/9/2022 Queries from Ileana Clarke
Queries:
8/2/2022 Queries from Lynda Black
7/26/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon
7/19/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford
7/13/2022 Queries from Raven Moon
6/28/2022 Queries from Vanessa Julye
6/21/2022 Queries from Raven Moon
6/14/2022 Queries from Ujima Friends Meeting
6/7/2022 Queries from Raven Moon
5/31/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
Queries:
5/24/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford
Queries:
5/17/2022 none
5/10/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon
2 Corinthians 12:9
5/3/2022 Queries from Raven Moon
Queries:
4/26/2022 Queries from Euclid Bautista
4/12/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford
4/5/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon
“Lifting
is 80% mental.” – Tamara Walcott, world record holding powerlifter
3/28/2022 Queries from Lynda Black
3/22/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
3/15/2022 Queries from Lori Patterson
3/01/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon
2/22/2022 Queries Lori Patterson
2/15/2022 Queries Regina Renee Ward
2/8/2022 Queries reused from 11/9/2021 Euclid Bautista
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
- Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light
2/1/2022 Queries Joan Crawford
1/25/2022 Queries Ernie Buscemi
1/18/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon
1/11/2022 Queries from Lynda Black
1/4/2022 Queries from Lori Patterson
12/28/2021 Queries from Regina Renee Ward
Queries:
12/21/2021 Queries from Joan Crawford
12/14/2021 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon
Chicken Little
by Nathan and Raven Moon
Queries:
12/7/2021 Queries from Regina Renee Ward
Queries
11/30/2021 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
Queries:
11/23/2021 Queries from Lori Patterson
11/16/2021 Queries from Joan Crawford
11/9/2021 Queries from Euclid Bautista
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
- Audre Lorde, A Burst of Light
11/2/2021 Queries from Lynda Black
10/26/2021 Queries from Bertha Pena
10/19/2021 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon
10/12/2021 Queries from Zae Illo
10/5/2021 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
9/28/2021 Queries from Lori Patterson
9/21/2021 Queries from Lynda Black
9/14/21 Queries From Bertha Pena
9/7/21 Queries from Lori Patterson
8/31/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
8/24/21 Queries from Nathan Moon
8/17/21 Queries from Euclid Bautista
8/10/21 Queries from Bertha Pena
8/3/21 Queries from Joan Crawford
WHERE DO THEY GO?
7/27/21 Queries from Euclid Bautista
7/20/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
7/13/21 Queries from Lynda Black
7/6/21 Queries from Lori Patterson
6/22/21 Queries from Bertha Pena
6/15/21 Queries from Joan Crawford
6/8/21 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon
6/1/21 Queries from Euclid Bautista
5/25/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
5/18/21 Queries from Bertha Peña
5/11/21 Queries from Lori Patterson
5/4/21 Queries from Lynda Black:
4/27/21 Queries from Bertha Peña:
4/20/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
4/13/21 Queries from Lori Patterson
4/6/21 Queries from Joan Crawford
“I grew professional and professional. I stayed in my body. You can’t paint me out to be angry.”
3/30/21 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon
3/16/21 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon
3/9/21 Queries from Raven Moon
3/2/21 Queries from Joan Crawford
What does the “kingdom of God” mean? What does it mean to you? How has The Lord’s Prayer (Our Father) informed your understanding of the Divine?
Why is it threatening to civil authorities and church authorities?
Does the use of MALKUTA (companionship of empowerment) change the meaning of the Lord’s prayer for you? Could this be the focus of the entire Gospel?
Are you called to bring about a companionship of empowerment? How?
From the Aramaic
The Lord’s Prayer (based on the original Aramaic).
2/9/21 Queries from Joan Crawford
2/2/21 Queries from Bertha Peña
1/19/21 Queries from Joan Crawford
1/12/21 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
1/5/21 Queries from Nathan Moon
12/29/20 Queries from Joan Crawford *
12/22/20 Queries from Bertha Peña
12/15/20 Queries from Bertha Peña
12/8/20 Queries from Regina Renee
Queries from FCNL Annual Meeting:
12/1/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
11/24/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes
11/17/20 Queries from Nathan Moon
11/10/20 Queries from Bertha Peña
11/3/20 Queries from Joan Crawford
QUERIES
10/27/20 Queries from Nathan Moon
10/20/20 Queries from Regina Renee Ward
10/13/20 Queries from Lynda Black
10/5/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
9/29/20 Queries from Bertha Peña
9/22/20 Queries from Joan Crawford
9/15/20 Queries from Nathan Moon
9/8/20 Queries from Lynda Black
9/1/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
8/25/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes
8/18/20 Queries from Bertha Peña
8/11/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
8/4/20 Queries from Lynda Black
7/28/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes
7/21/20 Queries from Zae Illo
7/14/20 Queries from Nathan Moon
7/7/20 Queries from Bertha Peña *
6/30/20 Queries from Ernie Buscemi
6/23/20 Queries from Lynda Black
6/16/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes
5/19/20 Queries from Vanessa Julye
5/5/20 Queries from Yamilka Hayes
4/28/20 Queries from Vanessa Julye

​​5/29/2024 from Regina Renee Nyégbeh

​​5/15/2024 from Lynda Black

​​5/1/2024 from Euclid Bautista

​​3/20/2024 from Euclid Bautista

​​3/6/2024 from Lynda Black

​​2/21/2024 Queries reused from 4/26/22 Euclid Bautista

​​2/07/2024 from Joan Crawford

​​1/24/2024 from Lynda Black

​​1/10/2024 from Regina Renee Ward

​​12/27/2023 from Joan Crawford

​​12/13/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

​​11/29/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

​​11/13/2023 from Joan Crawford

​​11/01/2023 from Joan Crawford

​​10/18/2023 from Lynda Black

​​10/04/2023 from Euclid Bautista

​​09/20/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

​​09/06/2023 from Euclid Bautista

​​06/27/2023 from Euclid Bautista

​​06/13/2023 from Lynda Black

​​05/30/2023 from Joan Crawford

​​05/16/2023 from Lynda Black

​​05/02/2023 from Euclid Bautista

​​04/18/2023 from Joan Crawford

​​04/03/2023 from Yumi Teresa Radtke Kawano

​​03/21/2023 reused from Vanessa Julye

​​03/07/2023 from Lynda Black

​​02/21/2023 from Joan Crawford

​​1/24/2023 from Lynda Black

​​1/10/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

​​12/27/ 2022 from Ernie Buschemi

​​11/1/2022 from Regina Renee Ward

​​10/25/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

​​10/18/2022 Queries from Euclid Bautista

​​9/27/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

​​9/20/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

​​8/16/2022 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

​​8/9/2022 Queries from Ileana Clarke

​​8/2/2022 Queries from Lynda Black

​​7/26/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

​​7/19/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford

​​7/13/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

​​6/28/2022 Queries from Vanessa Julye

​​6/21/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

​​6/14/2022 Queries from Ujima Friends Meeting

​​6/7/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

​​5/31/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

​​5/24/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford

​​5/17/2022 none

​​5/10/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

​​5/3/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

​​4/26/2022 Queries from Euclid Bautista

​​4/12/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford

​​4/5/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

​​3/28/2022 Queries from Lynda Black

​​3/22/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

​​3/15/2022 Queries from Lori Patterson

​​3/01/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

​​2/22/2022 Queries Lori Patterson

​​2/15/2022 Queries Regina Renee Ward

​​2/8/2022 Queries reused from 11/9/2021 Euclid Bautista

​​2/1/2022 Queries Joan Crawford

​​1/25/2022 Queries Ernie Buscemi

​​1/18/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

​​1/11/2022 Queries from Lynda Black

​​ 1/4/2022 Queries from Lori Patterson

​​12/28/2021 Queries from Regina Renee Ward

​​12/21/2021 Queries from Joan Crawford

​​12/14/2021 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

​​12/7/2021 Queries from Regina Renee Ward

​​11/30/2021 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

​​11/23/2021 Queries from Lori Patterson

​​11/16/2021 Queries from Joan Crawford

​​11/9/2021 Queries from Euclid Bautista

​​11/2/2021 Queries from Lynda Black

​​10/26/2021 Queries from Bertha Pena

​​10/19/2021 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

​​10/12/2021 Queries from Zae Illo

​​10/5/2021 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

​​9/28/2021 Queries from Lori Patterson

5/29/2024 from Regina Renee Nyégbeh

5/15/2024 from Lynda Black

5/1/2024 from Euclid Bautista

3/20/2024 from Euclid Bautista

3/6/2024 from Lynda Black

2/21/2024 Queries reused from 4/26/22 Euclid Bautista

2/07/2024 from Joan Crawford

1/24/2024 from Lynda Black

1/10/2024 from Regina Renee Ward

12/27/2023 from Joan Crawford

12/13/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

11/29/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

11/13/2023 from Joan Crawford

11/01/2023 from Joan Crawford

10/18/2023 from Lynda Black

10/04/2023 from Euclid Bautista

09/20/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

09/06/2023 from Euclid Bautista

06/27/2023 from Euclid Bautista

06/13/2023 from Lynda Black

05/30/2023 from Joan Crawford

05/16/2023 from Lynda Black

05/02/2023 from Euclid Bautista

04/18/2023 from Joan Crawford

04/03/2023 from Yumi Teresa Radtke Kawano

03/21/2023 reused from Vanessa Julye

03/07/2023 from Lynda Black

02/21/2023 from Joan Crawford

1/24/2023 from Lynda Black

1/10/2023 from Regina Renee Ward

12/27/ 2022 from Ernie Buschemi

11/1/2022 from Regina Renee Ward

10/25/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

10/18/2022 Queries from Euclid Bautista

9/27/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

9/20/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

8/16/2022 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

8/9/2022 Queries from Ileana Clarke

8/2/2022 Queries from Lynda Black

7/26/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

7/19/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford

7/13/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

6/28/2022 Queries from Vanessa Julye

6/21/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

6/14/2022 Queries from Ujima Friends Meeting

6/7/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

5/31/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

5/24/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford

5/17/2022 none

5/10/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

5/3/2022 Queries from Raven Moon

4/26/2022 Queries from Euclid Bautista

4/12/2022 Queries from Joan Crawford

4/5/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

3/28/2022 Queries from Lynda Black

3/22/2022 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

3/15/2022 Queries from Lori Patterson

3/01/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

2/22/2022 Queries Lori Patterson

2/15/2022 Queries Regina Renee Ward

2/8/2022 Queries reused from 11/9/2021 Euclid Bautista

2/1/2022 Queries Joan Crawford

1/25/2022 Queries Ernie Buscemi

1/18/2022 Queries from Nathan Moon

1/11/2022 Queries from Lynda Black

1/4/2022 Queries from Lori Patterson

12/28/2021 Queries from Regina Renee Ward

12/21/2021 Queries from Joan Crawford

12/14/2021 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

12/7/2021 Queries from Regina Renee Ward

11/30/2021 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

11/23/2021 Queries from Lori Patterson

11/16/2021 Queries from Joan Crawford

11/9/2021 Queries from Euclid Bautista

11/2/2021 Queries from Lynda Black

10/26/2021 Queries from Bertha Pena

10/19/2021 Queries from Nathan and Raven Moon

10/12/2021 Queries from Zae Illo

10/5/2021 Queries from Ernie Buscemi

9/28/2021 Queries from Lori Patterson