SPRING 2006Phil Anthony
(856) 769-0066 (voice)
(856) 769-1416 (fax)
salemqtr@verizon.net
t's a short issue of Salem Quarter News this time. I'd like to take a little space to explain why, and to make a plea.
Because of the printing process, the number of pages must be an even multiple of four-12 pages, 16, 20. The first items that get laid out are what I call the "required" things. These are the minutes of the last quarterly meeting, committee reports, columns from Friends School, Friends Village, and our clerk, and so on. Then I juggle the other pieces I have against the available space to bring the total pages up to one of those magic numbers.
MARCH QUARTERLY MEETING
Woodstown Monthly Meeting
Sunday, 12 March 20069:00 am Gather 9:30 am Program: Rabbi Marcia Prager – The Divine Spark in Every One 10:30 am Worship 11:30 am Friends School Fine & Performing Arts Program 12:00 m Lunch: bread, soup, beverage, dessert provided by Woodstown MM 1:00 pm Meeting for Business Child care provided This time, the required stuff came to 11 pages. And I had a two-page article by George Crispin that had been waiting for a long time, pushed out by required items such as the Child Safety Policy and the annual Nominating Committee report. In fairness to George, I wanted to make sure it got in print this time.
That gave me 13 pages. I would've liked to use another three pages for submissions from the Quarter. But I didn't have any to use.
My only other alternative was to cut out one of the required pages. What I chose to cut was the Quarter calendar that normally appears on page 2. It seemed to be the least necessary, considering that a one-page Quarter calendar is distributed to your Steering Committee members each month for posting at your meetinghouse. And our Web agent is faithful about updating the Quarter's calendar page, giving us another source of information about upcoming events. (Thanks, Mario!)
I'd prefer not to be caught like this again, however. When I have the space to print what you've written or drawn, I'd like to be able to use it.
So I want to make a plea to all of you who are reading this. I know how much talent there is here in Salem Quarter. There's already a poem that I've been promised for the Summer issue, but I'd like to have more—lots more—art and articles and poetry and essays, whatever you may be moved to create.
I can't guarantee when they'll be published. That depends on the number and length of the required items. But I can guar-antee that they'll be treasured and kept until I can use them.
ne of the required things, of course, is information about the upcoming Quarterly Meeting. This time it's happening at Woodstown MM on Sunday, 12 March, gathering at 9:00 am with the program beginning at 9:30. And we're fortunate to have a speaker who has taught at Pendle Hill and led wonderful programs at monthly meetings on the left side of the river.
Rabbi Marcia Prager is one of the most compelling people I've ever encountered. I've known her for better than ten years, ever since she presented a talk on work at my own monthly meeting, Chestnut Hill. Her clear distinction between job—what we do to earn a living—and work—what we do because we're called to it—was important in leading me here to Salem Quarter.
She's agreed to speak with us about two faith traditions that arose in the mid-17th century. One of those, of course, is Quakerism. The other, established by the Ba'al Shem Tov, the Master of the Good Name, is Chasidic Judaism, from which today's Reconstructionist Judaism is descended.
Marcia will be lifting up for us the similarities and points of contact between the two traditions that arose at about the same time in such different parts of the world. I urge you to come sit at the teacher's feet with me at Woodstown.
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