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WINTER
1999 
Gloria Horvay
Clerk, Salem Quarterly MeetingDear Friends,
The stresses of the summer are behind us, thankfully. We are experiencing tranquillity as we enjoy the beautiful fall foliage around our new home. Andy has started driving again, but will be taking physical therapy until he leaves in January for college in Michigan. We are so lucky everything has turned out so well.
Thanks again to all of you for your kind thoughts and prayers for us. As I reflect on the power of a group calling on spirit to send good to someone, I wonder how that communal spiritual power might help us do outreach for our meetings.
Salem Quarter recently got a wonderful photo spread in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The photographer who spent the day with us wrote a thank-you note saying her experience with us was one she would “remember and keep close to her heart.” Unfortunately the comment that greeted me in my faculty room the next day was that Quakers were dying out. This is the image we are putting out to the public. Who wants to join a dying religion?
I would like to see us use the power of the communal spirit in worship to visualize our meetinghouses full of people. Abundance is a function of our attitude. If we worry about our low numbers, that’s what we get. If we visualize friends joining our ranks, it is more likely to happen.
We have all heard a story of someone driving down the road and finding themselves directed somewhere they did not intend to go. Imagine Friends sitting in meeting and focusing on visitors walking through the door. Perhaps at that moment someone drives by and thinks to himself, “There’s the Friends’ meetinghouse. I’ve been intending to stop there. I think I’ll do it today.” Positive thinking is powerful.
There is a movement called One Day in Peace being planned for January 1, 2000, when all people on earth are called to live peacefully. Perhaps we could copy that idea and set aside one day when we all focus on welcoming new comers into our midst.
What do we tell those newcomers about Quakerism? As a librarian, I can’t close without recommending a book. I have found Listening to the Light: How to Bring Quaker Simplicity and Integrity into Our Lives, by Jim Pym, very helpful and satisfying. It is reviewed by Chel Avery in the November issue of Friends Journal. It confirms the relevancy of Quakerism in today’s world.
I look forward to seeing you at Woodbury on December 12 where Right Sharing of World Resources is planning a Stone Soup dinner for us. Friends School will provide music, and we will worship in candlelight.
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Last modified:
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM
