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He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." When one of those who sat at table with him heard this, he said to him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!" But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for all is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.' And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.' And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.' And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'" Luke 14: 12-24.

Query 4B, from Faith and Practice:

Is my home a place where all members of the family receive affection and understanding, and where visitors are welcome? Do I choose recreation and a manner of living that enriches the body, mind, and spirit; and shows a high regard for family, community, and creation?

Is our family prepared to discuss such sensitive topics as death, faith, money, even sex and drugs, in a manner that allows openness and honesty, and also direction?

How do I help to arrange life at home so that there is an opportunity for all to learn and absorb by example what it means to live a life of Spirit-led commitment?

Green Circle I Program. See article below.

Ad Hoc Property Committee will meet. All are welcome. Last brainstorming session.

Jayne Stokes

The Religious Education Committee would like to thank everyone who worked to make our first session of First Day School classes a success, particularly our teachers Catherine King, Linda Ponter, Ty and Helene Drago, Drew Humphries, Louise and Steve Senopoulous, Diane Snyder and Lisa Boyell. We especially want to thank our coordinator, Susan Tucker, for all her hard work. Our second 8-week session of classes will start on January 7. The classes for this session will focus on Quaker Testimonies. Childrenís classes will meet on the first, second and fourth Sunday this month from 11:15 to 12:15.

The Adult Religious Education committee of PYM has made available a calendar of activities of interest at area Meetings. Look for it on the RE bulletin board or check it out online at www.pym.org/worship-and-care/arecalen.htm.

Adult FDS is open to high school students as well as adults.

January 7: Kaye Rowe of Gwynedd Meeting will present a short video and talk about her prison visitation service, Visiting the Forgotten.

January 14: Green Circle Program, a group that offers workshops in dealing with and celebrating differences, will talk about what they offer.

Faith & Practice will meet in the library.

January 21: Spiritual Companions. A program describing Spiritual Companions Groups: How they work, what is their purpose. Gene Hillman, coordinator of Adult Religious Education for PYM will speak. Children age 7-14 will play cooperative games; children younger than 7 will have child care.

January 28: What is the Peace Testimony? The Peace and Social Concerns Committee will facilitate a discussion about the Peace Testimony and living peacefully in a violent world. This is a two-part session that will conclude February 4.

Faith & Practice will meet in the library.

Howard McKinney

This program is sponsored by PYM's Religious Education Concerns Group. It is at West Chester Meeting on January 13th from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. All are welcome at this program oriented toward religious education committees and anyone who works with children, including especially First-day teachers and youth leaders. Morning and afternoon workshops focus on many aspects of First Day School programs and nurturing our children. The cost is $10. Flyers with registration forms have been sent out to Meetings. To register or get more information, contact Marty Smith at 800-2200-PYM ext. 7008 or martys@pym.org, or Jayne Stokes. Registration deadline is January 8.

Pam Perry

I would like for us to met in the beginning of the new year to discuss how our committees and the Meeting as a whole are doing. May I propose that we meet at my house either for lunch after Meeting or for dessert in the evening on Sunday, February 4. Please call me and let me know what is possible for you.

Catherine King

Childrenís Inclusion Committee will meet after Meeting on January 14, 2001, in the Meeting house.

On Sunday afternoon, January 21st, several people from American Friends Service Committee's program in Washington DC are coming to share 1) about their program work and 2) insights from their experience which will aid us in developing more of a Quaker presence in Camden. Please come to Newton Meeting on January 21st. Flyers will be sent to each Meeting with the time and further details, or call Priscilla Adams.

Worship and Ministry

Were you late for a "very important date"? We gather at 10 AM on Sunday to center together. If you are late our "Important date" of coming together in the ministry of stillness is broken.

Out of respect and caring for each other and to strengthen our spiritual life come at 10 am each Sunday for a "very important date."

Meeting members and attenders are cordially invited to attend the school's Open House on Sunday afternoon, February 4, 2001 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Classrooms will be open, teachers will be present, and parents will also be on hand to speak to visitors. This is a fine opportunity to see and hear what is happening in the school. Plan to stop by. Encourage friends, relatives and neighbors to visit also. Learn first hand about the vitality of the school.

Tr. Bernadette

The Fifth grade had a great trip to Mt. Misery just before Thanksgiving. While we were there we experienced archaeology, survival skills (which included making a debris hut), tracking and identifying animals, and what life was like in a 19th century company town. We learned a lot about the cranberry industry and used the cranberries we got in cooking bread and sauce. There was so much to do we ran out of time and we're thinking about extending the trip to at least three full days next year.

The children had a great time and were very well behaved. They even managed to get a little sleep! I'd like to share some of their comments with you.

Alex - Going to Mt. Misery was a great experience, one I will always remember!

Shelley - Mt. Misery was such an interesting trip! We got to experience what life was like in the "olden" days when we went to Whitesbog. It was great to be without our parents and only with our friends for three days.

Ariana - Mt. Misery was a wonderful experience because we learned lots of things and had the most fun ever!

Ryan - I think it was a great experience to live in the woods and explore the wilderness for three days.

Zach B. - Mt. Misery was a very educational experience for my friends and me. We had a great time!

Dori - Mt. Misery was a great chance to learn more about nature and become better acquainted with classmates.

Amanda - Mt. Misery was an experience that brought each of us closer together and one that we will never forget!

Alexa - Mt. Misery was a great outdoor experience and it helped us become closer.

Kelsey - Mt. Misery was a lot of fun and very interesting and I'm sure it will be the highlight of my time at HFS.

Chris - Mt. Misery was the best field trip ever and it was a great chance for everyone to build better friendships.

Zach O - Mt. Misery is a great educational place where you can go and learn about nature and other interesting things and still have fun!

Katie M - Mt. Misery was fun because we got to get to learn how to survive in the forest and lots of other new and interesting things.

Liz - It was a wonderful experience and we learned a whole lot.

Reid - Mt. Misery was a great experience because we learned a lot about nature.

Katie R - At Mt. Misery we learned a lot about exploring nature and animals. It gave me a chance to bond with nature and think about all that nature provides us with and what we can do to help it.

Kathia - Mt. Misery was very educational. It was a great place for a field trip. I want to go back and take my family.

Julian - Mt. Misery was full of adventure. I really liked the Green Cathedral!

A Quaker Youth Seminar on the Quaker Peace Testimony, for juniors and seniors, will be held at William Penn House in DC the weekend of Feb. 19 ñ 21. A registration fee of $20 is due by January 25. The fee will be deducted from the cost of $50 for food and lodging for the weekend. For further information contact Rachel Shaw, 515 E. Capitol St. SE Washington DC 20003 or e-mail dirpennhouse@pennsnet.org.

Takashi Mizuno

When : January 14th

Time : From 11:15 to 12:30

Place : Haddonfield Friend Meeting House

What is the Green Circle Program I ?

Green Circle I is a highly participatory series of workshops and follow-up activities designed to help children in K-6th grades develop an awareness, understanding and appreciation of human differences while encouraging a positive sense of self worth. The programs are unique in that they don't teach values, but rather provide children with a model through which to evaluate their own actions and emotions, thus enabling them to discover values. While the program was designed for children, its universal message and appeal transcends the boundaries of age.

What is the purpose of the presentation ?

Since last November, the Haddonfield Friends Meeting and the Haddonfield Friends School have collaborated on implementing the Young People's Peace Group. The facilitators of the group have a plan to bring the Green Circle Program to the group and other groups and schools to promote understanding and respect for differences among and within families, communities, schools, and Friend Meetings in the region, and caring for all.

Adria Light is leading the program. Who is Adria Light ?

Adria is currently employed by Jewish Family Service of Atlantic and Cape May Counties as the Director of the Healing Center and Volunteer Services which includes a program addressing the needs of pregnant women at risk. She completed the training to be a Green Circle facilitator 15 years ago. Since then she has facilitated in grades K-12.

OUT OF THE PAST

From A True Story of Lawnside, N.J., by Charles C. Smiley.

Submitted by Bill Farr

Between the years 1890 and 1900 there was an Industrial School here where boys were taught to mend shoes. It was opened in the Public School building and, as it increased, went to the Odd Fellows' Hall, where shoes and harness were repaired, and chairs caned; also we made hammocks. The boys' department met on Saturdays. The names of the teachers were: 1st, Mr. Davis; 2nd, Mr. Shoemaker; 3rd, Mr. Williams Cooper. They served one at a time. On Thursdays the girls met to sew. Their teacher was Mrs. Carrie Sadler. The object was to make this school self-supporting. The articles made by the girls were sold; and shoes collected by boys, after being repaired, were sold at Mrs. Emerline Jackson's home. Repair work was done at a reduced rate. This school was the work of the Society of Friends, of Haddonfield, N.J. The Directors were Samuel A. Bacon, Mary W. Bell, Mary Allen, Beulah M. Rhoades. Mrs. Fanny J. Coppin, Principal of the Institute for Colored Youths, of Philadelphia, Pa., lectured in Mt. Pisgah A.M.E. Church, Snow Hill, in the interest of this Industrial School, April 28, 1899.

The School budget for 2001-2 was approved.

The Committee met December 3, 2000. We decided our overriding concern should be to identify additional possibilities to add classroom space on Meeting property without significantly expanding the footprint of the Meeting house complex of buildings. At our last meeting we identified two such possibilities: adopting Phase II of the Structure Committee report, which involved adding four rooms above the existing pre-k wing; and adding two rooms on top of the upper buildingís kindergarten wing.

This session we identified two additional possibilities to explore. One was to add two more rooms above the four to be constructed above the pre-k wing, not by adding another story, but by using dormers, and possibly raising the roofline facing the interior courtyard. We agreed we wished, at present, to avoid adding a whole third story to the pre-k wing. In addition, we agreed to explore the possibility of adding rooms above the auditorium. We noted, however, that the existing footings for the auditorium would probably be inadequate to bear the weight of a second story, and so would have to be built up, perhaps at too great a cost.

We agreed that reconstruction of the existing foyer should be considered in conjunction with these suggestions, should this committee eventually adopt them and Meeting decide to move forward with them.

Our next meeting will be a final brain-storming session. We hope all those attending will try this month to think of additional suggestions for more classroom space. After that, Jean Landis, Harley Williams, and John Suter (and perhaps others, if they are interested) will explore the economic feasibility of the groupís suggestions, perhaps in conjunction with engineers or architects.

Next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 28, at 11:15 AM, at the Meeting house. We urge anyone with an interest or an idea to attend.

Louise Heritage

What is going on here? At November Monthly Meeting there was a request to try a new configuration of our Sunday AM program. Welcome children and teachers into 10 AM Meeting for Worship for 15-20 minutes and then excuse them to First-day School. Pros and cons were mentioned.

At December Monthly Meeting REC requested that committees please not schedule meetings during First-day School sessions. Several ideas were forthcoming.

Are we Haddonfield Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends or a very busy social group as rumoured? See Faith and Practice, p. 44, first paragraph under "Responsibilities of monthly meetings."

Harold Heritage

"What matters is not adhering to a system, but arriving at a totality of oneself. From the moment we are born, we do nothing else but increment that old feeling of incompleteness, which tells us constantly that there is another part of us that will give us completeness. The path to overcome this is a forced one. In order to learn, we must be spurred. We are always fighting something, avoiding something, preparing for something, that is always inexplicably more powerful than we are.

"This is our world. We can't renounce it and it is useless to get angry and feel disappointed. We must avoid the wear and tear of blame and self incrimination. Harmony between our actions and decisions can only come when the war within ourselves comes to an end." Carlos Castaneda

"Beyond our normal perception is a more subtle awareness. These are promptings that are not necessarily obvious to the conscious mind. We are connected to everything, because we are the same molecule -- and everything in that molecule is a part of the God Force.

"Realize that everything is feeling. Begin to place your awareness into how things feel. Consider the impact of your silent thoughts. Are they destructive? Be aware of what you actually say when you speak to people. Life is a prayer. You are projecting and receiving energy. Watch the ebb and flow. Watch your inner dialogue and language of life's symbols, and offer up your simple human activities, your moments of silence, in a symbolic exchange of energy and information, of asking and gratitude." Stuart Wilde

Begin to experience your TOTALITY.

Cecilia McFadden

Iíve hung words out like laundry --

The colors of my heart

Pinned on a line --

Trusting passersby will pause,

Salute the vivids and the pales,

And finally proclaim,

"Those garments might be mine!"

W. B. Yeats

WHO will go drive with Fergus now,

And pierce the deep wood's woven shade,

And dance upon the level shore?

Young man, lift up your russet brow,

And lift your tender eyelids, maid,

And brood on hopes and fear no more.

And no more turn aside and brood

Upon love's bitter mystery;

For Fergus rules the brazen cars,

And rules the shadows of the wood,

And the white breast of the dim sea

And all dishevelled wandering stars.