'D' is for Diversity . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him

In whose sight I shall find grace.

And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV 

'D’ is for Diversity . . . Diversity can be seen not only within the various Branches of Friends but also between the individual Meetings and Yearly Meetings. Our theology, worship styles, vocabulary & terminology, some specific beliefs and the way we do our business, just to mention a few. Not sure when I was first introduced to any of these diversities as I think sometimes it’s hard to see within one’s own Meeting or Yearly Meeting.

In April 13, 2007, when I became acquainted with members of Friends Committee on Scouting I began to see diversity among Friends and Scouting. The committee members represented not only different Scouting programs, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Scouts Canada, but also different branches of Friends. Part of this experience was a different way of doing Quaker business including more silence than I had been accustomed to.

Friends Committee on Scouting’s 2009 Annual Meeting at Waycross Conference Center (in Morgantown, IN) showed me more diversity. It was my first experience with Friends World Committee for Consultation, Section of the Americas. Diversity among international Friends, Spanish speaking Friends, more vocabulary & terminology and then there’s the worship . . . bilingual worship! I planned a Girl Scout campout that weekend as one of our camps was just a mile down the road from Waycross. Three of the four girls, including my two daughters, on the campout that weekend were members of my Meeting and the four of us went up to Waycross Sunday morning for Meeting for Worship – an interesting experience for all of us with the various interpretations going on and singing in English and Spanish.

In the summer of 2013 I experienced more of the diversity among Friends when I participated in a Pilgrimage with and among Friends in Ireland & Northern Ireland. I learned not only from my new Irish Friends but also from new Friends from England, Sweden and the Netherlands. During Ireland Yearly Meeting the breaks during business sessions for tea & biscuits, the Singing in English & Irish workshop, Friday afternoon field trips, a bat walk in the old cemetery behind Cork Meeting House, the Quaker Lecture and of course the Epilogues by Candlelight each night. Visiting and sharing with Irish Friends in their Meeting Houses – learning their history, Un-programmed Meetings for Worship and sharing more tea & biscuits. Seeing and learning about the work of Irish Friends, in Northern Ireland, in reconciliation efforts.

The last two years I’ve had opportunities to travel to the East Coast, attending Annual Meetings for Friends Committee on Scouting. More opportunities to meet new Friends, learn a bit more Quaker history and share in Un-programmed Meetings for Worship.

Last year at Sandy Spring Friends Meeting, (Maryland) attending Meeting for Worship in an old Meeting House where you walk directly into the Meetingroom from the outside - entering ready to settle into worship – in the silence you could hear Friends coming & going. Near the end of worship a Friend standing up and asking if there were any needing to be held in the light . . . several names were mentioned, just names. Thinking afterwards I like this, very simplistic and Quakerly, just names. As a visitor to Sandy Spring Friends I didn't need to know who these individuals were or what their needs were in order to pray for them, as God knows all of that. This was so unlike those Friends who give a name, the relationship that individual is to the speaker and a whole long explanation as to why this Friend, individual or group, needed prayer.

Last month we were at Gwynedd Friends Meeting (Pennsylvania), another old Meeting House, with some interesting history. Here one enters the Meetingroom when the door is open and takes a seat, when the door is closed you must wait until it is opened, about 20 minutes into worship - when the Young Friends and adults working with them leave for First Day classes and then you may enter and sit down. At the end of worship the Friend in charge of worship that morning read several pages of announcements. This was followed by all the Friends and visitors introducing themselves, going row-by-row around the room, an interesting practice.

Outside of Friends out in the world diversity is more often talked about in what we ‘see,’ the physical characteristic: hair, skin color, eye color, the clothing we wear, if we wear glasses or not OR one’s size. Then again sometimes it might be based on what someone does: their occupation, their family OR a hobby.

I have a large file full of diversity activities and such within my Girl Scouting materials. I’d like to share one of the lessons I used with my girls with all of you. Open a package of M&M’s you should notice right away that they’re all the same size and shape (although I usually find one or two broken), they’re also different colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, brown and if you buy the holiday packages you’ll find various other colors. All those different colors in one package, existing together, one color is not superior, they don’t discriminate against one another. And believe it or not, they all taste the same! They may look a bit different on the outside, but that’s only the colored ‘candy shell’ – there’s no flavor there. Yeah, I tested my Girl Scout Troops – blindfolded them and asked them to guess what color the M&M’s were . . . they had no clue, BUT it was fun! We can learn a lot from a bag of M&M’s.

What diversity have you seen or experienced among Friends? Are you open to the diversity around you? In your Meeting/Church? In other groups to which you belong? In your community? Do you think all diversity is good? What is the greatest diversity you've seen or experienced?

 

Traveling with and among Friends is a great way to see, learn and experience the diversity within our Quaker faith. Thanks to all my Friends, new and old, for sharing with me.

 

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‘D’ is also for Disappearing Blocks . . . Before I had actually settled on what I was going to write about for the letter ‘D,’ I had decided that I was going to feature disappearing nine-patch and disappearing hourglass quilt blocks. When I started to write about diversity I thought WOW my disappearing quilt blocks really seemed to fit right in with this post . . . showing some of the diversity in quilting. Disappearing quilt blocks are fun and easy to do with a few fun rotary cuts.

 



Nine-Patch block

In order to make a disappearing nine-patch OR disappearing hourglass quilt blocks, one first needs to make a nine-patch OR hourglass quilt block. Then the fun begins! The quilter gets to slice up the original block, move and rotate the pieces around and then reassemble, thus creating a whole new look and making it difficult if not impossible for anyone to figure out how they did it. The technique(s) for the various disappearing blocks has been developed over time by many quilters.




Disappearing
Nine-Patch block

The phrase disappearing nine-patch suits this block perfectly, because to make it one takes a traditional nine-patch block - nine equally sized squares (four of one color/fabric and five of another) sewn together (3 squares x 3 squares) forming a larger square and slices it apart. The nine-patch disappears and is replaced by four smaller equal sized units. Two of those four pieces are then turned 180 degrees and the four pieces are sewn back together, creating the disappearing nine-patch block. This block has also been referred to as the tossed nine-patch OR fractured nine-patch by some quilters.



Hourglass block

For the disappearing hourglass block, one starts by sewing four half-square triangle blocks together and then slice it into nine equal pieces. The eight outer pieces are all rotated 180 degrees and the center square is rotated 90 degrees. Then you sew these new pieces together. Of course there are other ways one can turn the nine cut pieces which will result in other looks to the finished block.

  

Disappearing Hourglass



Interesting history on the disappearing hourglass block, it is the result of someone making a mistake (really, a quilter making a mistake in a class???NEVER!) She was supposed to have made a pinwheel block instead of the hourglass. And as with the disappearing hourglass block, there are several variations to the disappearing pinwheel block – depending on which way you turn the pieces. Now I’m gonna have to make this block as well.

Diversity in quilting comes about through the use of size, color, pattern and individual interpretation. In our quilting group at Mooresville Friends we can all be making the exact same block, but no two will be exactly the same . . . since we’re using different fabrics and colors.

Happy quilting!