FriendQuaker Advices and Queries, Stewardship and Vocation

Advices and Queries for the Fourth Month*

Stewardship and Vocation

Advices

John Woolman said, “As Christians all we possess are the gifts of God… To turn all the treasures we possess into the channel of Universal Love becomes the business of our lives.” The principle of stewardship applies to all we have and are. As individuals, we are called to use our time, our various abilities, our strength, our money, and our material possessions with care, managing them wisely and sharing them generously.”

From the indwelling Seed of God, we discover our particular gifts and discern the service to which we are called. In making choices about occupation or education, consider the way that offers the fullest opportunity to develop your individual abilities and contribute to the world community while providing for yourself and your family. In daily work, manifest a spirit of justice and understanding, and thus give a living witness to the truth.

Be ready to limit engagements, to withdraw for a time, or even to retire from an activity that inhibits your ability to follow a higher call. Try to discern the right moment to accept new responsibilities as well as to relinquish responsibility that can pass to others. Be open to your calling in different stages of life. Meetings need the strength and vigor of young people as well as the experience and wisdom of elders. Although they may not be able to contribute great financial support, their energy and insight invigorate the community. As people begin careers and families, they may need the spiritual and experienced help of the Meeting. Later, when families are growing up and careers are established, greater participation in the Meeting and greater financial support may become possible. Welcome the approach of old age, your own and others’, as an opportunity for wisdom and greater attachment to the Light. Meetings should be ready with material and spiritual support for those suffering from unemployment or facing difficult vocational decisions.

Queries

  • How have I been faithful to the leadings of the Spirit in choosing work or vocation?
  • What am I doing with my talents, time, money and possessions?
  • Is my conduct at the workplace consistent with my life as a Friend?
  • How does my daily work enhance my spiritual life?
  • How does the Meeting help and support members who are in job transitions?

*from Faith and Practice of the Pacific Yearly Meeting (2001), 48-49

FriendQuaker Conferences and Retreats

SILENT RETREAT 

WONDER

28th Annual Friends’ Silent Retreat
Friday, March 14-Sunday, March 16, 2025
Optional Extended Retreat, Monday March 17
Prince of Peace Abbey, Oceanside, CA 92608

Oh Lord, My God, when I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds thy hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed.  When through the woods and forest glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze, Then sings my soul…How Great Thou Art!!

Stuart Hine, 1953

If there is an antidote to the ills of the world, the rat race, and the chaos around us, then it is in the wonder of creation. It allows us to be insignificant and magnificent at the same time.  Wonder is available to us anywhere. If we peer closely. If we stand back quietly and observe.  If we look through telescopes or microscopes. If we close our eyes and listen. If we shut down our bodily senses and sink into our souls.  From observing the vastest reaches of the universe and the smallest particles in accelerators.

Britain Yearly Meeting advises, “Be aware of the spirit of God at work in the ordinary activities and experience of your daily life. Spiritual learning continues throughout life, and often in unexpected ways. There is inspiration to be found all around us, in the natural world, in the sciences and arts, in our work and friendships, in our sorrows and in our joys. Are you open to new light from whatever source it may come? Do you approach new ideas with discernment?”

We invite you to join us in wonder at the miracles and mysteries of life. 

Registration form

FriendQuaker Memorial Service, The Meeting Community

Memorial Service for Dee Abrahamse

We will be having a memorial meeting for worship in remembrance of our beloved Friend Dee Abrahamse on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 2PM in the sanctuary of the Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church at 2845 Mesa Verde East, Costa Mesa. Use the link below if you wish to attend online.

Click here for Zoom

If you’d like to learn more about Dee’s life, you can read her story here. You can also see her being interviewed about her spiritual journey here.

FriendQuaker Conferences and Retreats, Fall Fellowship, Southern California Quarterly Meeting

Registration for Fall Fellowship 2024 is Open

Registration is open until October 25, 2024

Click here to register

Call to SCQM Fall Fellowship
November 1-3, 2024
at Temescal Canyon & on Zoom

Friends, we are called to gather again in fellowship at our traditional place, Temescal Canyon. We have a long history with that spot, and if you’ve never been, we encourage you to make the effort to come in person. We plan to have a hybrid gathering, so the option of remote participation will be available, but if it’s at all possible, being in the beautiful place with fellow Quakers from around the Quarter is a wonderful experience.

The Ministry and Counsel Committee has chosen to consider “Faith and Prayer in Action” as the theme for the gathering, and speakers who will lead us to consider this theme are being invited. With the rich variety of people in our Meetings, we hope this topic will stimulate broad discussion. On a very basic level, many of us consider the “Ministry of Small Things” to be prayer – the prayer while washing dishes, preparing food, or arranging the logistics for Fall Fellowship. At the same time, many of us have been appalled by uncaring response from politicians to, for example, mass shootings, with the hypocritical “thoughts and prayers”. This is why Ministry and Counsel has deliberately chosen the phrase “Faith and Prayer in Action”. Come and engage in this worship and learning.

In addition to our keynote presentations and worship sharing on Saturday and Sunday mornings we will have interest and affinity groups, time for fellowship, hiking, plenaries, community night, and worship.

We will be offering a rich children’s program for all ages during plenary and interest group sessions.  Fall fellowship is an opportunity for kids to get to know one another in our geographic region and spend some time in nature. Attendance fees are automatically waived for babies, toddlers, children, and teens.

Please join us for SCQM’s Fall Fellowship on the beautiful grounds of Temescal Gateway Park in the Pacific Palisades, just north of Santa Monica, or via Zoom.  See below for details.

In peace,
Dan Strickland, SCQM clerk

Click Here for more details

FriendQuaker Conferences and Retreats, Fall Fellowship, Southern California Quarterly Meeting

Save the Date for Fall Fellowship!

Southern California Quarterly Meeting
Fall Fellowship
November 1-3, 2024
at Temescal Canyon State Park

On the first weekend of November (1-3),  join Quakers from around southern California at Temescal Canyon. It’s a beautiful location a couple of miles inland from Will Rogers State Beach. We’ll sleep in cabins, share meals in the dining hall, and enjoy discussions, speakers, meeting new people and old friends, and have fun. There will be programs for children and teens. There’s some very fine hiking as well. More information arriving shortly, so keep an eye on your mailbox (of the electronic sort).

FriendQuaker Annual Session, Conferences and Retreats, Pacific Yearly Meeting

PYM Annual Session 2024

Pacific Yearly Meeting’s Annual Session will be held in person July 19-24,
2024 at Whittier College in Whittier, CA. It will also be possible to attend
remotely via Zoom. This year’s theme will be Transformation. Registration for in-person attendance closes July 1st, and registration for online attendance closes July 15th.

Click here for more information, including the Clerk’s Call,  the schedule, fees, and a link to
registration.

FriendQuaker Road Closures, Traffic

Traffic Alert–Sunday, May 5th

The Orange County Marathon will be running Sunday, May 5th, near the Meeting House.  In previous years this has been a headache for anyone driving to Meeting.

The best way to get to Meeting, for anyone coming by car, will be:

405 to Harbor South
Right (west) on Gisler, the first light south of the freeway, by the Arco and In’n’Out
Left on Gibraltar, the first stop sign
Round the bend on Gibraltar
Left on Labrador (Gibraltar ends)
Right on Baker, a four-way stop
Left on Mesa Verde Eats, a four-way stop
Then Meeting will be on the right.

There may be a lot of traffic this way, from people trying to get to the marathon’s route. Here are two links to the Marathon’s website:

OCMarathon.com
Road Closures

Thelink on the right takes you to a page with links to lists of road closures.  If you prefer maps, scroll to the bottom and click on the rectangular thing on the right, in the black bar. That will give you a full-page interactive map.

*Photo by Miguel A Amutio on Unsplash

FriendQuaker Spirituality, Workshops

Online Workshop, Saturday April 20th, 2024 

HEALING PRACTICES and QUAKER SPIRITUALITY 
led by Shannon Frediani

We do not store trauma in the mind;
we store trauma in the body.

Living in our world today involves trauma exposure.
Whether healing from personal trauma or
avoiding being traumatized by working with others who suffer from trauma,
we can learn in this workshop a new form of healing
Bringing attention to our bodies can help us bring our nervous systems
back into balance and to come back to one’s own center of peace.
Balancing and returning to one’s center,
where we encounter Spirit, is building our own resilience.
This 2-session series is an introduction to practices that support the resilience needed to meet today’s challenges.

This program will be conducted online and will consist of two 1½ -hour sessions.  Participants will have the opportunity to do the following:

10:30 – noon: Recognize and reflect on their own responses to trauma exposure.
Learn to interrupt the trauma response.

1:00 -2:30:    Build resilience and new strategies for centering, and
Connect with Spirit and deepen their Quaker faith.

Shannon Frediani is a Quaker teacher, writer, and activist.  She is a member of Santa Cruz Monthly Meeting.  

Register Here