Jamestown Friends Meeting 509 Guilford Rd PO Box 2163 Jamestown NC September Light Workers. A Noiseless Patient Spider, by Walter Whitman

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1 Simply Speaking Jamestown Friends Meeting 509 Guilford Rd PO Box 2163 Jamestown NC September 2018 Light Workers A Noiseless Patient Spider, by Walter Whitman A noiseless patient spider, I mark d where on a little promontory it stood isolated, Mark d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding, It launch d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them. And you O my soul where you stand, Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space, Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them, Till the bridge you will need be form d, till the ductile anchor hold, Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul. [ noiseless-patient-spider] Just outside the door, a spider spins its web, catching the morning glistening with a jeweled beauty. The fine filament of the web, the creative artistry of the design, create an awe that is beyond description. It is always frustrating to walk through a spider web; one spends the next ten minutes wiping the web from one s face. Those thin filaments, almost invisible to the naked eye, unless the sun is shining just so, break so easily, yet adhere to your face with a power beyond description. Of course, the spider scurries immediately to repair the damage, for the web has a purpose. Each individual strand or filament has little tensile strength, and is easily broken. Yet, when an insect is caught in the web the spider immediately winds many strands around it, securing the subject. The subject can t be held with one strand, or a few strands, it takes many. But just think, each person s little when added together makes a large impact; each contribution can hold us together, can build something wonderful here at Jamestown Friends Meeting. As we begin the fall with its full array of activities (Chicken BBQ, Fall Yard Sale, Choir Resuming, Open Door Shelter meals, Adult Forum and educational activities, Meeting for Worship, Outreach, and much more) there are plenty of opportunities to get involved, to offer your little part. Isn t it wonderful to know that I don t have to do it all; that my part and your part make for light work for all? Let us all work together as we continue and build the ministry of Jamestown Friends Meeting. Yours in the Light, pastoral minister The same is true for our work at Jamestown Friends Meeting. Each person in our meeting has a gift, a talent that is needed as we carry forward the work and ministry of the meeting. We all pitch in, as the campfire song says, all God s critters got a place in the choir One voice does not make a choir. One person can t hold it all together. You might think, I don t have much to offer; my little thin filament won t add much.

2 Music Notes By Beth Massey I ve been going through a lot of stuff in the last few months, in a lot of locations. What to throw away? What to give away? What to recycle and how? What to keep? De-cluttering our lives is a constant discernment process. The story of the rocks in the jar is a story I think of daily. Question: Given a pile of big stones that will fit into a jar, and a pile of sand that will fit into a jar, how can I get the most of the 2 piles into the jar? Answer: If I put all the sand in first, I will get none of the big rocks into the jar. BUT, if I put the big rocks into the jar first, then pour the sand in around them, much of the sand will fit around the bigger rocks. The moral to this story is: I must fit the important things into my life first, and then let the less important parts find their places around the more important ones. Therefore -- and here s the clincher! -- I must figure out which parts of life are the big rocks, and which are the sand. As I said earlier in this paragraph -- life is a constant discernment process. It s important to figure out what the important questions are, to ask them often, and to hold things and situations in the Light to get a clearer view. As I go through the meeting s music files to make way for music purchased more recently, I ask myself multiple questions: What will serve us now? We don t need this now, but is it likely to be of service in the future? Will this weigh us down or help us move forward? Does this music express timeless truth, handed down to us from gifted ones in the past? What is the essence of this message from the past -- can we hear through the bias of their times and find in it God s message for us that is relevant to our time? Does the language here empower us in our quest for that of God in all persons and situations, or does it limit us to past impressions of God? Does this music bring helpful thoughts and feelings to us, or remind us of negative experiences from our past? I know that I can t answer all these questions -- even for myself, much less for others in different times and places. Therefore, the only way I m able to move forward with this de-cluttering process is to pray each time I go to those files, God, please guide my choices, and then trust that God will guide beyond where I have the mental power to foresee, and move on. The new revelation that has been given to me in this particular de-cluttering process is how our Christian language makes whiteness good and darkness bad. As we in our current society struggle with white supremacy -- its roots and multiple manifestations -- do we need to look at the bias we may be inheriting and passing on through our own Christian heritage? Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow, from Lord Jesus, I Long to Be Perfectly Whole, by James L. Nicholson, 1872, is one example. I think I know what the author meant, and am pretty sure he had no white supremacy intentions that he recognized. But do we recognize our own biases? What subconscious images of good and bad are created by this language? What psychological and physiological responses do the melodies and harmonies create within the musicians and the listeners? So many questions!! We are becoming more sensitive to gender bias in our Christian writings, but awareness of the subtleties of racial bias has some catching up to do. Now is a great time to start building that awareness! Let us move forward as best we can, empowered by the words and spirit of Jesus as revealed continually through prayerful discernment and de-cluttering. Jamestown Friends Meeting FALL 2017 YARD SALE Saturday, September 29, 2018 Workers are needed for setup on Monday (9/24), Tuesday (9/25), and Friday (9/28) from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Workers for the sale are needed on Saturday (9/29) from 7:00 am to 12:00 pm. We need baked goods for the Baked Goods Sale. Small individual items like brownies, cookies, and tarts sell best. If you have a long table we can borrow, please bring it. You can still donate items right up until Saturday. You can put your items in the last classroom across from the Fellowship Hall (the one closest to the back door). Liter bottles of soda are needed. Please donate if you can. If you have a Facebook or other social media account, please post information about our yard sale to help us get the word out.

3 Did You Know? By Martha Mattock Jamestowners are still in 'traveling mode' - getting those end of summer trips in before Fall obligations take over. Chester and Brenda Haworth's brood enjoyed nature and horseback riding recently when they spent a week at a Virginia ranch. This trip is an annual event for their family before school begins - and they all look forward to it, especially the grandchildren. Mark and Virginia Sills have been on an extended vacation/camping trip covering the Midwest and Northwest Michigan, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, Nebraska, etc. This trip was planned well in advance, but they found that due to the widespread forest fires, they had to alter some of their routes and plans. They had a close call on the Lewis and Clark Adventure Parkway, and it was more of an adventure than they anticipated! The road was winding, narrow and treacherous and a big truck hauling timber sideswiped their car. Fortunately, the damage was not too bad, but their new car ended up with a nasty scratch down the side. At least they stayed on the road and didn't tumble down the steep sides of the mountain! They should be back home by chicken BBQ time, so you can hear all about their adventures then. Dwight and Rita Roberts have been working diligently on remodeling their kitchen (with the help of and Charlie Routh), and they are now planning a relaxing trip to Colorado. They leave September 6th to attend Rita's niece's wedding and to visit with Rita's children and grandchildren, little KellyAnne, Oliver and Emersyn. We will miss Rita's perfectly baked potatoes at the BBQ chicken dinner, but she will have the potatoes ready for us to wash, dry and wrap. Martha Farlow has started a new physical therapy job in Galax, Virginia, so she will be traveling there on Mondays and stay there through the week. She is pleased with the new job, but not happy about the traffic on Highway 52 around Winston- Salem. She is exploring alternate routes to avoid that congestion. Janet Wright will soon be familiar with the Boston area. Her daughter, Carrie, was married recently and the newlyweds are relocating to Boston where they both have new jobs. Both Carrie and her husband are nurses. Carrie formerly was a nurse at Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. And looking ahead... Dick and Kathy Coe are planning to participate in the Senior Olympics. Dick is proficient at Bocce Ball and it seems that Kathy may be a pool shark! Wish them luck! And now you know! September USFW Projects Membership Apportionment: $5.00 per active member Ladies: Martha Mattocks will send in membership dues for 5. If you would like to reimburse her, that would be fine. NC-USFW Scholarship Fund If you would like to support this fund, please put your check in the offering plate, marked "Sept. USFW project" and Ronnie Hicks will record it and forward it to the USFW treasurer. Reminder: Annual Gathering, Saturday, Sept. 16 at Somerton Friends Meeting.

4 September Message Schedule IT S CHICKEN BARBECUE TIME AT Jamestown Friends Meeting September 2 September 9 September 16 September 23 September 30 Rep. of ECAR (Every Campus a Refuge) Open Worship Saturday, September 8, :30 a.m. 6:30 p.m. (Eat in or carry out.) Menu: barbecued chicken, baked potato, green beans, roll, dessert, drink Name That Quaker By Linda Willard My brother and I built a village to house the workers in our plant; we campaigned for better welfare and a shorter working day. We supported education and medical projects. We improved an existing product and made it easier for the housewife to use. Who were we and what was our product? ½ chicken dinner - $10 ¼ chicken dinner - $8 Come, eat, help us help others! (Answer on a different page.) Paint Party September 17 Join us for a paint party on September 17 at 2 PM. We will be painting the front doors, kitchen door, and possibly a couple of other small spots Financial Statement Reported by Ronnie Hicks (Through July 2018) Contributions/Revenues (actual) $68,443 Contributions/Revenues (budget) $44,541 Expenses (actual) $52,660 Expenses (budget) $52,874

5 Peace Potluck September 20, :00 PM You are invited to attend a Peace Potluck to be held at Jamestown Friends Meeting at 509 Guilford Road in Jamestown, NC on September 20, This event is sponsored by the NC Peace Resource Center. The peace center has planned this event to coincide with the eve of the International Day of Peace which will be held on September 21, We will share a meal at 6:00 PM. After our meal, we will hear from each of the following about the peacemaking work they are doing in our community: Daniel Rhodes, UNC-Greensboro Professor and Will Bohaboy, Shelter Manager will discuss their work at the High Point Open Door Shelter where they create peace circles with the shelter residents. Julie Peeples, Senior Pastor of the Congregational United Church of Christ in Greensboro will discuss her church s efforts to serve as a sanctuary. Rob Jackson, Pastor of the Community in Christ Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, will present information about the NC Council of Church s work to inform our community about North Carolina s role in torture. What the Jamestown Friends Meeting Community Means to Me September Contributions Friendship, a place to count my blessings, a place to reflect. ~Jim Mattocks As a newly transferred member of Jamestown, I was looking for a meeting which was similar to my previous experience with Friends meetings. As a former member of the Friends Meeting of Washington, by the way of Woodland and New Hope Friends Meetings, I was looking for a meeting which offered me an opportunity to be something I wasn't, which is peaceful and making a difference in my community. I think I found it in Jamestown Friends Meeting. I see my membership as peaceful and making a difference in my new home state. ~Harry Massey As I settle into silence with Jamestown Friends each Sunday morning, I feel a deep sense of God s presence. It is a comfort to me to be with Friends of like mind and to wait with them to hear God s voice. From this sense of deep worship, we try to obey God s call to service. I am glad that I have found a home here. ~Agnes Frye What does Jamestown Friends Meeting mean to you? Over the next several issues of Simply Speaking, different individuals will share their thoughts about what the Jamestown Friends Meeting community means to them. The editor asks that you responses to this question to kfadams53@gmail.com or hand her your responses in writing. We hope to feature a wide variety of responses. Thank you in advance for your contributions!

6 September 1 September 2 September 3 September 4 September 6 September 6 September 9 September 10 September 17 September 17 September 26 September 26 September 29 September 29 September Birthdays Jeanette Williams Mary Griffin Evan Altizer Bill Jackman Pam Hicks Norris Bodenhamer Cindy Hudson Binford Farlow Jewell Farlow Alavaro Reyes Mendez Kenneth Harris Kate Suko Ron Parks Rudy Padron According to Susan...Bulla, that is Back to School A little girl had just finished her first day of school." I'm just wasting my time," she said to her mother. "I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!" Monthly Meeting for Business September 9 Answer to Name That Quaker We were the Lever brothers, a British Quaker company. We built the village of Port Sunlight named for our most popular brand of soap. We pioneered making soap in individual bars. Previously, soap was cut from a large block. Although no longer a Quaker company, you would be familiar with at least one of our soap brands: Lifebuoy. Simply Speaking is published monthly for Jamestown Friends Meeting 509 Guilford Road, PO Box 2163 Jamestown NC Phone: (336) JamestownFriends@aol.com Editor: Kathy Adams; Managing Editor: Wallace Sills Columnists:, pastor; Beth Massey; Martha Mattocks