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Shortly after the appointed hour, the Meeting reassembled to worship and to attend to the matters before us. Those at the Clerks’ table introduced themselves: Arlene Kelly (Central Philadelphia), Clerk, Anne Moore (Valley), Alternate Clerk, and Mae January Sterrett (Westtown), Recording Clerk.
The Clerk opened the business portion of our session by extending a warm welcome to the many Young Friends who joined us, thus making this session more complete.
- Minute 1:
Mario Cavallini (Mickleton) read the proposed draft of the Outgoing Epistle. The Epistle was greeted with general approval. Suggestions, corrections, and emendations were noted and given to the Epistle Project Group to use as they revise the Epistle for final approval on First-day afternoon.
- Minute 2:
The Clerk gave a brief summary of the afternoon session, noting the remarks of Peter Goldberger about the legal aspects of living peacefully, the sharings by three Friends of their own experiences in living in a manner that is faithful to the Peace Testimony, and the reflection about what we, as individuals and corporately, do well in living out the Peace Testimony, and where we need to do better.
The Clerk then introduced Niyonu Spann (Durham, Maine), Director of the Green Circle Program, who has been working with Young Friends to encourage them to share their experiences in living the Peace Testimony. At Niyonu’s invitation, Laura Smoot (Haddonfield) briefly shared some of the activities and discussions the High School age Young Friends have participated in, including working with people on the Village Arts and Humanities Project in North Philadelphia and taking part on Saturday afternoon in the rally to encourage shutting down the School of the Americas. For the Middle School age Young Friends, Fleur Frascella (Central Philadelphia) summarized the activities which centered on our connection with the earth.
Niyonu Spann spoke briefly of her work with helping young people learn to appreciate thenselves. After asking the Meeting to toss out words about violence and then to reflect silently on a personal experience of violence as a child, Niyonu introduced the panel of Young Friends, inviting them to respond to the question, “How have I personally had to struggle with violence?”
The panel mentioned issues of the registration for the draft, verbal violence and intimidation, and the impact of our manner of life on other people and the world. Other Young Friends mentioned that it is hard to be different from other people in their schools. Many struggle with the difficulty in finding the courage to bear witness to their beliefs, both in action and in word. Many feel afraid to talk and act constructively in the face of peer criticism and ridicule. Several mentioned their sense of grief and loss because people close to them have been shot. Others spoke to their frustration when trying to effect changes for the better, only to be thwarted by their peers and by the lack of action, trust, and respect of the adults around them. One Friend pondered the conundrum of our government justifying the waging of war as a way to achieve peace.
When reflecting on acceptable violence, some wondered whether providing aggressive outlets for violent feelings mightn’t be helpful. Several Young Friends struggle with the paradox of learning violence as a means of self defense. Many recognized that it is a form of violence to stand by and not speak up when you perceive verbal or physical violence.
The adult community could provide support for these Young Friends by recognizing their concerns about acts of violence and facilitating action to address them, rather than ignoring the young people in hopes that the problems will go away. Individuals need to find the courage to act on their beliefs. Adults were encouraged to trust in and to listen to young people; to include the teen agers fully in the life of the Meeting; to start Alternatives to Violence programs; to examine our own lives to seek out how we sow seeds of or increase the level of violence in the world, either through action or inaction. Our Young Friends commented that they felt heard and supported by this session.
As this portion of the session drew to a close, the Meeting expressed our deep appreciation for the energy, the high level of participation, the commitment, and the enthusiastic frankness of the sharing of our young people.
The Clerk encouraged us to remember that, having listened to these issues and concerns of our young people, we must now act on their suggestions to further the cause of peace in our world. We the Yearly Meeting, feel a commitment to go forward as way opens, building on the foundation provided by this evening’s session.
- Minute 3:
After the reading, correcting, and approval of the minutes, the Meeting settled once more into open worship before adjourning to meet again if rightly ordered, on First-day morning, at 9:00.
Mae January Sterrett, recording clerk
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM