'K' is for Kaleidoscope . . .

"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

‘K’ is for Kaleidoscope . . . At some point I had to make a kaleidoscope – I don’t recall when or why but it may have been back in college for one of my Elementary Education classes or in Scouting, it doesn’t matter except that I know how to make one and how it works. The kaleidoscope I made contained three mirrors glued together forming a triangle (with the mirrors facing each other) which was then slipped into a tube with small bits of colored cellophane dropped in front of the mirrors. As the tube was turned, the pattern changed . . . the exact same pattern never to be created again.

 

I see Friends as kaleidoscopes – individuals and groups are constantly moving and changing. Friends move from here to there and move their membership from one Meeting to another – all for various reasons. Friends’ opinions and attitudes are different and ever changing as the world around them changes.

 

Over time as individuals, Meetings, Yearly Meetings and other Quaker groups - we grow and mature and the world changes around us as governments make new rules and laws. Our thoughts and opinions vary on these new rules and laws. And all of this affects what we do and how we do it, to some degree.

 

Some of Friends are good at thinking for themselves; other Friends have strong opinions one way or another on various topics and issues that arise; some Friends are naturally good leaders . . . and other Friends are not such good leaders – always looking to other Friends in the group for guidance when it comes to figuring out the sense of the Meeting, committee or group.

 

There are Friends among us that struggle with some issues that are brought up. Some Friends have so-so or weaker opinions on the various topics and issues. Some Friends are not meant to be leaders, and as Friends we’re OK with that – every Friend has a place where they fit in and all Friends have an equal voice and part in the process.

 

None of this makes any of us better OR any of us worse – every group needs leaders and followers, after all, we can’t all be leaders or all be followers! We need a good mix between the two.

 

To an extent, who we are and our individual and corporate beliefs are shaped by those around us – whether that is other Friends, family, friends or co-workers. We all learn from others and that shapes who we are both individually and corporately.

 

Recently here in the United States one of the big issues or topics has been with LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, and Queer). The US Supreme Court legalizing same sex marriage – oh my! Some County Clerks and their staff refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples and some refusing to issue marriage licenses to anyone. Business owners refusing to serve same sex couples including – photographers, cake makers, venues, and there are pastors/ministers of various faiths, including Friends, refusing to marry same sex couples.

 

Friends have various thoughts on the whole LGBTQ issue – and it doesn’t seem to necessarily have anything to do with which Branch, some of it is just personal. There are those that are openly accepting, those that want nothing to do with them and those that are only partially accepting. Some Meetings that have not seen eye-to-eye with their Yearly Meeting have and are being forced to conform to what the Yearly Meeting says is right . . . or leave the Yearly Meeting. Some Pastors have openly said they would marry same sex couples – causing quite a stir in some areas.

 

The LGBTQ issue has also come up within both the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts here in the United States in the last couple of years. Members of Friends Committee on Scouting have discussed this and are available to support Friends, Friends Meetings and Yearly Meetings – we have a whole page on our website, http://quakerscouting.org, dedicated to Scouting and Homosexuality. We encourage Young Friends as well as our Adult Friends to participate in Scouting and Guiding Programs.

 

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‘K’ is for Kaleidoscope quilts/quilt blocks – a relatively easy block to make, the tricky part is fabric selection and then cutting out the triangles/wedges for the block.

 

The kaleidoscope is a form of a pinwheel block. Putting several of these blocks together you’ll end up with a psychedelic quilt with an awesome optical illusion. This block can also be a great stashbuster, a way to use up old scrap fabrics.

 

Rainbow Stripes

Kaleidoscope quilts became popular in the latter part of the nineties and their popularity continues – they are visually strong, bold and striking. The key to obtaining a successful kaleidoscope effect in a quilt is the fabric selection to create that optical illusion. The designs are centered in a symmetrical way that resembles looking through a kaleidoscope.

 

Care should be taken when selecting fabric for a kaleidoscope quilt. Fabrics should be a large to medium print, preferably with a bold pattern. Fabrics that don’t work well in other quilts, because they appear too busy may be the perfect choice for this type of quilt. High color contrast, bold patterns and large motifs are the key points to remember when selecting fabrics. Fabrics with too little contrast would reduce the kaleidoscope effect. Small prints will work in a small block. With large prints, make sure there is enough background under the prints so that the design doesn’t become confusing. The background gives the eye a place to rest and allows the optical illusion to pop out.
 

Tulips

Fabrics with at least an 8-inch, but more of a repeat will give you more options. A fabric with a 24-inch repeat and good color contrast, strong lines and enough background showing – would be ideal. Knowing the repeat will help you figure out how much fabric to buy.

 

The background fabric shouldn’t detract from the strong visual effect of the kaleidoscope. The background and kaleidoscope should complement rather than detract. Auditioning various background fabrics before making that purchase would be helpful. Tone-on-tone prints, marbled monochrome prints or prints with very soft colors and very subtle prints seem to work the best.

I've made two different kaleidoscope blocks to share here. The first one I made was with a rainbow stipe that I had - turned every other one the other way, which aligned the red and green stripes to line up all around. The second one, that I made this afternoon, was done with a large tulip print that I had recently gotten for a project. I think you can see more of the 'kaleidoscope' pattern in the tulip block.

 
 

 

  

'A' is for Affirmation . . .

 "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

 

‘A is for Affirmation . . .’ a legal declaration made in place of swearing to an oath, especially judicial oaths. A brief bit of Quaker background here for all my non-Quaker friends and family reading this post. Friends with a capital ‘F’ here refers to Quakers. Friends believe that taking an oath implies a double standard of truth, so rather than take an oath most Friends will ‘affirm.’ And for Friends, telling the truth, and telling the truth all the time is very important, going back to their early business practices. OK, now on with this post . . .

 

Our courts require those testifying to swear that what they will say will be the truth. Since Quakers and some non-Quakers, individuals and faith bodies, take issue with swearing an oath, courts in the United States and a few other countries now allow at least Quakers to ‘affirm’ instead of swearing an oath. Most courts will ask those testifying to “swear or affirm to tell the truth,” thus covering Quakers and non-Quakers alike.

 

As I was putting together my thoughts for this post I got into a private Facebook conversation with a good Friend. In the course of that conversation I asked her if she had any ideas for the letter ‘A’ and she replied “Angel food cake and angels???” LOL! I reminded her that I was looking for something Quaker to blog about – her reply “We can think about plain angel food cake-snicker, snicker.” Oh my, what to do with her! But, if you knew this Friend, and some of you do know her, and I expect many of you know her better than I, you’d know that’s the way she is! She then said “Appreciate the humor. Hey, that gives me an idea! What about appreciation?” Well, I did appreciate the humor, and I’ll take it when I can, but for some crazy reason, I seemed to be stuck on blogging about Affirmation.

 

Anyway, getting our conversation and back to affirmation, she said “Affirmation may be a good topic. Do you affirm when you are to take an oath. I do I affirm that I am telling the truth. My yeses are yes and my nos are no.” To which I replied:

 

“Yes I have! I took a case to the Small Claims Court up in _____ Township (in Indianapolis) several years ago – they only asked if we would ‘swear’ to tell the truth. I didn’t . . . the Judge caught that! And he said he wouldn’t hear my case if I didn’t! I told him that it was against my faith to ‘swear!’ He wasn’t very happy with me – nor was the attorney (yep, the other party showed up in Small Claims Court with an attorney!) or the manager/owner of the Indianapolis _______ (insert name of fast food restaurant)! They looked at me really stupid like and I said that as a Quaker I always tell the truth . . . he then asked if I would ‘affirm’ to tell the truth, which I did.” My Friend replied “Good for you!”

 

What I didn’t appreciate was the Judge, Court Officer, the defendants & their attorney and court observers snickering and laughing at me over this. I didn’t find it a bit funny. During the whole proceeding I felt like I wasn’t taken seriously by the Judge or the defendants and their attorney - especially since they showed up without the employees that I had had spoken to at the business the day of the incident. When I asked where those employees were, the manager/owner said he had no idea who they were! Can you believe that?

 

Oh, for those of you who are curious, I had slipped on a large patch of ice (black ice with no way to avoid it) as I stepped out of my van to go inside to get something for lunch. I ended up on my side on the pavement, sustaining some rather nasty bruises on my thigh and breaking my cell phone. I was asking for compensation to replace my cell phone and for pain and suffering. The owner claimed there was no ice in their parking lot, amazing that he would say that . . . after admitting in court that he wasn't at the property that day! Unfortunately, in the end, the Judge dismissed my case, without prejudice.

 

There’s another ‘oath’ that causes concern among Friends, the Oath of the Boy Scouts of America:

 

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

 

Members of Friends Committee on Scouting, an affiliate of Friends World Committee for Consultation Section of the Americas, have been engaged in conversations, for several years, over the Boy Scout Oath. Those conversations have been with each other as well as other Friends . . . in person, on the phone, through emails and on our Facebook page. Most Friends are interested in how other Friends deal with this Oath. But, is it really an oath? OR More of a promise that the Scouts (youth members) and Scouters (adult members) are making?

As Clerk, I have also had opportunities to have conversations with the Chair of the BSA Religious Relationship Task Force, made up of representative from various faith bodies - including Quakers, and have asked if BSA could replace the word ‘oath’ with another term that would be less offensive and more acceptable among Friends. So far, nothing has come of that, but I’m not giving up.

 

Throughout all these conversations we’re seeking consensus, but like other issues that have come before us over the years, we haven’t reached a consensus on this issue, yet. There are those who say the oath and those that don’t say the oath.

 

When the thought of including something here about the BSA Oath, one thing that  came to my mind was the conversation between George Fox and William Penn, the one about Penn’s sword. And what spoke the loudest to me was the words George Fox said: “Wear it as long as you can.” I’m not sure why or exactly what that means, in relation to the BSA Oath. Is it that Friends should say it as long as they can OR that we should continue working with the BSA Religious Relationship Task Force for change?

 

So . . . Oath OR Affirm?

 

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Last year I included recipes along with each of my Quaker Alphabet posts, not sure I could carry that on another year, so in 2015 I’m going to include quilt blocks and/or quilts that begin with each letter. I hope this will be of interest to all, and for those of you that don’t know me, or know me well, I have been learning to quilt for some time now . . . and I don’t call myself a quilter, as I don’t believe I’m up to that level yet. So, here I go . . .

 

‘A' is for applique. Applique uses a variety of fabric pieces cut into various sizes and shapes that are affixed to the quilt or quilt block either with hand or machine stitching. In the last five years I’ve made three quilts and one wall hanging/table topper that incorporated appliqued pieces.

 

“It Isn’t Easy Being Green” quilt – hand appliqued. Now of course there’s a story behind this crazy looking frog quilt, which must be shared. In the spring of 2009 I made over 30 stuffed frogs which I donated to Quaker Haven Camp when I went up as a counselor, in June. That fall I began thinking about making a quilt using all the crazy fabrics I used for the frogs. I began looking for a pattern, one that I could use all 29 print fabrics from the frogs – not an easy task considering the really odd assortment of prints I had to work with.

 

In late January of 2010, I was looking through some old quilting magazines I had received that afternoon from my mother-in-law, and as I turned the page in one of those magazines . . . I saw it, the perfect quilt! It was rather late, so the next morning I dug out the bag containing the fabrics I had used to make all those frogs and by mid-afternoon I had all the pieces cut. I spent the next couple of day’s appliqueing the frogs to the solid colored blocks. Once that was done, I laid out all the pieces on the floor, stood back and thought “Yuck!” I wasn’t sure I wanted to go any further with it, but then I thought what have I got to lose? I began sewing the nine-patch blocks together and then added all the little squares around the frog blocks, placing each completed block back in place as it was finished. I didn't like it any better once all the blocks were done. Again I continued on, sewing each row together and then sewing the rows together. Again I stood back and took a look at it – and wasn’t any more impressed with it. What I had envisioned to be a lovely quilt for my bunk at camp was horrible looking. But . . .

 

I went ahead and measured, cut and sewed on the two borders. Laid it out on the floor again and stood back . . . WOW, what a difference the borders made! I was in love with it! Loving the scrappy look of my quilt I decided to sew small strips of all the prints together for the binding. The next year I turned two of the extra appliqued frog blocks into matching pillows. I’m happy to say that my crazy frog quilt is quite the conversation piece when I’m up at camp as a counselor and for USFW Fall Retreats. By the way, ‘It Isn’t Easy Being Green,’ is a song sung by Kermit the Frog . . . and I love Kermit!

 

“Butterfly and Flower” wall hanging/table runner – machine appliqued. I saw this pattern in a quilting magazine and knew I just had to make it! I was able to purchase the exact fabrics used in the sample at a local quilt shop – although I did make a few color substitutions - just because I didn’t care for some of the colors in the original. This also goes up to Quaker Haven Camp with me, a table runner in my cabin – adding a bright splash of color!

 

“Dragonfly Dreams” quilt – for my granddaughter Isabelle. I’m stuck on this one, trying to figure out whether to hand or machine applique all those dragonflies! This was made as a baby shower gift . . . for Isabelle’s big girl bed. I’m still struggling with how to quilt this one – by hand or machine. There will be dragonflies quilted all along the border. I also made a matching pillowcase, thinking about either appliqueing or quilting dragonflies on the cuff.

 

“S’Mitten’s” quilt – hand appliqueing. Members of the quilting/sewing group at my Meeting decided in late 2013 to do a ‘Fat Quarter Challenge.’ That is, we chose a fabric and those who wished to participate paid a couple of dollars and then received a ‘fat quarter’ (18 x 22-inch piece) of that fabric to be used in a project. We were given several months in which to create our projects, using all or part of that fabric in it, and then had a ‘show & tell,’ to share what we had made.

 

Just after New Year’s we had quite a bit of snow, which gave our public school students an unexpected extra week of Christmas vacation. Knowing I was gonna be ‘stuck at home,’ I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to begin working on this project. I remembered seeing a quilt pattern that I wanted to make, so I spent a bit of time looking through my quilting magazines until I found it. Now that I had a pattern, I had to figure out where to use the challenge fabric . . . the sashing (strips of fabric between and around the quilt blocks) seemed the perfect place, darn, the pattern said I’d need 3/8 yard for that and all I had was a fat quarter. Hummmm, OK, let’s see exactly what pieces need to be cut . . . YEAH!!!! I had plenty of the challenge fabric to cut the needed pieces for the sashing’s – even had a strip 2 ½ x 18 inches leftover. That was Monday.

 

Tuesday I went through my fabric stash and picked out the other fabrics, cut all the pieces and fused all the mittens on the blocks. Wednesday I was able to get the whole quilt pieced and sandwiched (layer the quilt top, batting & backing) together. By Thursday I was quilting it – beginning with appliqueing the mittens . . . which continues. I'm planning to sew a button in the gold squares and quilt mittens in the border. The binding is red with tiny white pin dots.

 

 

Do A Good Turn Daily . . .

"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

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink: When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of those, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”                  Matthew 25:35-46

December 6th I went downtown Indianapolis, Indiana with six Cub Scouts, a younger sister, five parents/leaders, one grandmother and 70 pairs of new socks (OK, they were ‘slightly used’ socks . . . the Cubs had a ‘snowball fight’ with them on Monday night in the Bay at the Fire Station – but they had been washed); to ‘Do A Good Turn,’ aka some ‘community service.’ We went to help serve a hot lunch to the homeless. This sounded like a rather simple task as all we had to do was to show-up – all the food and such would be provided by others . . . but I soon found out this was a HUGE production.

As we pull up, there are already several homeless waiting . . . they knew we were coming. Some are standing on the sidewalk, others sitting on the ground or at picnic tables in the park . . . all knowing that soon there would be a feast set out before them. Some of their names known by the ‘regulars’ that come and serve them meals, to them they are familiar faces. Some come over and begin conversations; they also came over to see who the new faces were.

We met up with a group of Christians from around the Indianapolis area who come together every other Saturday (I think that's what I heard someone say) on Pennsylvania Street just south of Virginia Street. We helped set up ten or twelve long banquet tables on the sidewalk, filled them with hot food. There’s soup, fried chicken, sliced ham, turkey & noodles, macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, cole slaw, potato salad, rolls & bread, some fresh fruit, deviled eggs, lunchmeat/cold cut sandwiches, cornbread muffins, yogurt and drinks.

The tables are up, the food and drinks are ready to be served, the workers all have their assignments, the homeless have come and lined up in an orderly fashion . . . all is ready. One of the organizers finds a spot towards the beginning of the line and welcomes all and then offers a prayer.

The homeless make their way down the line with their Styrofoam ‘take-out’ containers in their hands, and as they come to us we ask if they’d like what we were serving. They're welcome to have some of everything we're serving. Their small containers filled up way too quickly.

They’re grateful for the food and they thank us for being there. They’re blessed to see the children there helping to serve their lunch. Some say “Bless you,” and others wish us a “Merry Christmas.” They have smiles on their faces. A few come back for a second helping. Some bring plastic containers with them and put their food in them and several bring bags to put extra food in for later.

There are large garbage bags full of plastic containers and after all seem to have their fill, we fill small containers with what’s left in our pans . . . macaroni & cheese and cole slaw are ready for those that would like a bit more for later. There are a few sandwiches left and some yogurt as well.

Snowball fight

At the end of the food line, there was bread, heads of lettuce, stalks of celery, and boxes of romaine lettuce that they were welcome to help themselves to. There were bags filled with warm clothes, blankets and the socks that the Cub Scouts donated . . . they were free to take what they could use.
While we were serving one of the ladies came up from behind me and thanked me for coming and helping out, one of the organizers I think . . . then she gave me a big warm hug. Several of the other ‘regulars’ came by and thanked us for coming and helping out. I think our being there allowed some of them to spend time out in conversation with the homeless that they come and serve so often.

Lunch had been served, the food was gone . . . we began the clean-up process. We help gather trash, clean off the tables and help load up the vans and SUVs.

I had come with one of the leaders and her two sons and as I waited for them, one of the homeless men came up and we had the most delightful conversation . . . I found out that he had been in Scouting when he was a youth. He was touched to find out that the young boys helping to serve lunch today were Cub Scouts and they had come with several of their leaders.

‘Do a good turn daily’ it’s the Scout Motto . . . each Scout is to do a ‘good turn’ or give some sort of service each day, give unselfishly to others. One of the mom’s/leaders that was with us commented on the Pack’s Facebook page “. . . It was a very valuable lesson for the boys! Helping others.”

We spent about two-and-a-half hours out on Pennsylvania Street, setting-up, serving, cleaning and sharing conversation with the homeless that came by for something to eat. I was thankful that the rain had stopped earlier and that the wind wasn’t as strong as they had predicted on the news.

I went not knowing exactly what I was getting myself into.

I went to see what the Scouts were doing.

I went to serve . . .

When I left, I wasn’t the same as when I arrived . . . I had been richly blessed! What an amazing way to begin the Christmas holiday season!

I found several scriptures dealing with feeding the poor, I began this post with one that has been speaking loudly to me this last week, here are a couple more:

“Happy is the generous man, the one who feeds the poor.”   Proverbs 22:9

“For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give--large or small--will be used to measure what is given back to you."   Luke 6:38

What ‘good turn’ or community service have you done lately? Whom do you serve? What drives you to serve others? Is your service well planned out? OR does it just seem to happen? What service are you giving this Christmas? How does giving to others make you feel?

I wish for each of you a very Merry Christmas – remembering the reason for the season and that our God blesses you richly in the coming year.

* I’d like to thank Nicole, one of the Pack leaders, for allowing me to share the pictures that she took serving the homeless in this blog post.

** I'm the one with the heavy red coat & navy blue hoodie (from Quaker Haven Camp) on!

 

"N" is for Nurture . . .

"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

OK, so maybe not
good nurturing
here, but isn't
she a cutie?

"N" is for Nurture . . . that is to take care of something, or someone and help it/them to develop and/or grow and to help reach its full potential.

 

I see a lot of nurturing going on among Quakers . . . of ideas, Meetings – Monthly & Yearly, current & potential members, those who are sick &/or suffering, Friends of all ages & experiences and families - especially the children. And the nurturing that we do comes in different forms depending on what or whom we are nurturing.

 

That being said, sometimes I think we all could, individually and corporately, do a better job of nurturing. Sometimes we put too much time and energy into the wrong things OR in the wrong places. We don't take time to stop and think before we speak and/or act. And aren’t we all guilty of doing that?



This takes babysitting
to a whole new level!

Sometimes it seems like all I hear is talk about how 'we' should nurture this or that person or situation, but that's all it is . . . talk. No one seems to do anything about it. At times the talk is really LOUD! OK, I hear you, but if I'm supposed to do something here (and I mean do something really productive here), I (personally) need more details . . . and the details aren't given. And why aren’t those details given? Why they just might give away too much personal information, they might tell you ‘who’ and you’re not allowed to know that! Maybe that's why no one seems to do anything . . . because 'we' don't have enough information to know what needs to be done, or how to do it, or just how to help.



Always a helping hand

I want to turn my focus here to nurturing our children, our Young Friends, the future of our families, our Meetings AND the Religious Society of Friends. The scripture that comes to my mind here is Proverbs 22:6, which says: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” KJV. So, we need to train/teach our children what’s right and then when they are young adults and adults they will know right from wrong and will do what’s right.



At Mooresville Friends I see us trying to nurture, care for/help our children develop and grow . . . through our Sunday School, Children's Church and Kid's Club program. We work at teaching them about the Bible, God, Jesus, life lessons learned . . . through Bible stories, songs, games, snacks and crafts. But are we doing enough?
 

John Woolman said: "To watch the spirit of children, to nurture them in Gospel Love, and labour to help them against that which would mar the beauty of their minds, is a debt we owe them; and a faithful performance of our duty not only tends to their lasting benefit and our own peace, but also to render their company agreeable to us."

I love this quote! Can’t you just picture watching ‘the spirit of children’ in your head? And yes, it’s ‘a debt we owe them’ strange I suppose to think that we owe our children anything, but we do, just go back to the verse from Proverbs, we owe it to them to teach them right from wrong.



Nurturing begins early . . .

The responsibility to nurture our children doesn't totally fall on the Meeting, but also on the family and extended family . . . parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles all play a part in nurturing our children. We can do this by setting limits for our children and listening, really listening to them – hearing what they are saying and also hearing what they’re not saying to us.

 
Even during Meeting for Worship, during the silence, we find ways to nurture our children, nurturing them in their faith. Showing them how we are all equal, and I hadn’t thought about it until someone pointed it out to me recently – we call each other by our first names, we don’t use Mr. or Mrs., although most of the children in my Meeting do address our Pastor as ‘Pastor Sue’ (then again my Meetings got more than our fair share of Sue’s and Susan’s). I can sense my parents and grandparents rolling over in their graves!

As a Meeting, we nurture not only our children, but also their parents – the family as a whole unit, the other caregivers and the teachers that we/they come into contact with. In doing so, we also nurture our Meetings as a whole – shaping who we are. It’s a huge responsibility.

 

Some of my other kids!

During the school year, when I’m working – my paid job, I help to nurture not only the 3^rd & 4^th grade students that we have in our Weekday Religious Education classes, but the other students in their classrooms, in their schools and then there are the teachers & staff members as well and our WRE students families.

 
When I go up to Quaker Haven Camp and serve as a Counselor for a week during the summer, I nurture the girls in my cabin, the other campers, the CIT’s, the other Counselors, the Camp Staff and even the families that I come into contact with.

 
As a Scout Leader/Council Trainer/Unit Commissioner/Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioner I help to nurture the Scouts their parents & siblings and other Scout Leaders that I come into contact with and members of the community . . . as I participate in Scouting programs, drive around, stop to eat and go shopping with one of my Scouting uniforms on.

Graduation . . .
all grown-up

Now here’s a thought - can’t we/don’t we nurture others by our example? Going about our daily lives? We can, and should, nurture everyone we come into contact with – through caring about them, showing them compassion and supporting them?
 

Just as Worship was coming to a close this last Sunday this thought came into my head, so I wrote it down, not standing up as the closing benediction was being said -"We need to nurture and care for each other – inclusive . . .  ALL, not just a chosen few, not just those who fit into one of our little group.”

 

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Alright, a couple of recipes for you here. First Nashville House Fried Biscuits - Oh so yummy - eat them by the handfuls! Nashville House is located in beautiful Brown County, Indiana - about an hour drive south and slightly east of where I live. Brown County is the place to be in the fall, when the leaves turn and begin to fall . . . Camp Gallahue, one of my Girl Scout Councils' resident camps is located just a bit north of Nashville, in Brown County . . . Fall Camporees are amazing! Back in either 1972 or 1973, when my dad was the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in the State of Indiana (gotta use the whole official title hear . . . proud daughter moment) my mom host the 'Ladies Luncheon' (for the wives of the Grand Lodge Officers and wives of other dignitaries) at Nashville House. And somehow, my mother talked them into giving her the recipe for their Fried Biscuits! At the time, we lived up in South Bend, Indiana - about 4 1/2 hours straight north of Nashville. The second recipe is for No-Bake Persimmon Pudding - I don't know about other places, but persimmons are a big deal around Mooresville, Indiana. I don't recall my mom making this, but it was in her files, and she made note on the recipe card that she had gotten this one from the South Bend Tribune, so expect that she must have made it at some time - but I don't recall hearing about persimmons until I started attending Mooresville Friends Meeting back in July 1984.

Nashville House Fried Biscuits

(makes about 7 dozen biscuits) 

 
1 quart milk

½ cup shortening (white shortening, like Crisco)

¼ cup sugar

6 teaspoons salt

7-9 cups all-purpose flour

2 2/3 packages dry yeast (or 1/6 cup yeast)

Preheat fat to slightly hotter than 350˚F. If fat should be too hot, the biscuits will be soggy in the center.

Add yeast to warm water. Add other ingredients and let dough rise. Work into biscuits and drop into hot fat.

Biscuits can be frozen individually and stored in plastic bags. When you work them up, don’t let the biscuits rise too high.

Recipe from Nashville House, Nashville, Indiana.

No-Bake Persimmon Pudding

(makes 8-10 servings)

1 cup persimmon pulp

½-1 cup sugar

22 graham cracker squares, divided
1 cup pecans, finely chopped

16 large marshmallows, quartered (about 1 c miniature)               

Stir together persimmon pulp and sugar; set aside. Finely crush 16 graham crackers. Combine with persimmon mixture, marshmallows and nuts. Form into a 3-inch diameter roll. Crush remaining graham crackers; roll persimmon roll into crumbs to coat. Wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or several hours until firm. Cut into slices and serve.

Serve plain or with whipped cream.