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Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends convened for its 322nd annual sessions at the Fourth and Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia, on Fifth-day evening, Third Month 21, 2002, and settled into the stillness of open worship.
- Minute 1: Clerk's Welcome
At the conclusion of opening worship, Clerk Arlene Kelly introduced those on the clerk’s bench, and greeted the children who joined us for worship and then went to their activities.
Visitors from other Yearly Meetings were invited to introduce themselves. Among those who rose to be recognized were Elizabeth Duke of Aotearoa/New Zealand Yearly Meeting, with Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC); Nancy Irving and Nancy Yarnall of North Pacific Yearly Meeting, with FWCC Section of the Americas; Doris and John Calder of Canadian Yearly Meeting; Mary Lord of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, with American Friends Service Committee; Alannah Morton of Ireland Yearly Meeting; Loida Fernandez of Ciudad Victoria Meeting, General Reunion of Mexican Friends, with FWCC Section of the Americas; Jackie Stillwell of New England Yearly Meeting, with Friends General Conference; and Kenya Casanova Sales of Cuba Yearly Meeting.
Arlene also noted that we have an interpreter conveying our proceedings in American Sign Language. This is an experiment to make our sessions that much more freely shared.
For members of the general public who came to hear this evening’s invited speaker, Arlene gave a brief explanation of Quaker practice in meeting for worship with attention to business.
- Minute 2: Keynote Speaker
The Clerk next asked Kara Newell, former Executive Director of the American Friends Service Committee, to introduce Jean Zaru, clerk of Ramallah Friends Meeting in Palestine, who spoke of a testimony of suffering and hope.
Jean began by noting that today is Mother’s Day in Palestine, and she paused to acknowledge the ongoing efforts of mothers to carry the labors and joys of life in the midst of death and crisis.
She pointed out that crucial to transformation is the public cry of pain. The communication of grief and anguish is necessary to penetrate the numbness of history and open the way for newness of life, justice and peace. She called on us to listen and to create the space where this grief, this truth can be brought forth.
She told us of Palestine and of struggles against injustice, against violence, and for hope. For over 50 years, the people of Palestine have endured oppressive colonization and distorted perceptions in news media and political forums.
In the midst of this, hope is present: in simple acts of kindness and cooperation, in the mother’s endurance of the loss of husband and children, in the willingness of others to also endure pain and loss, in defiance of armed soldiers in order to bake bread for children in a refugee camp, and in the great statesmen and humble survivors who witness to truth, as well as the global consensus who may hear and act toward liberation.
Jean held forth the teachings of Jesus as both denying recourse to violence and assuring that each and all live in the Spirit and thus must be truth-centered. Those who are oppressed are called to find the courage to offer their pain rather than the violence of rage, even in the face of armies.
In all of us, Jean called for transformation: from oppression of others to inclusion of diversity, from hatred to acceptance, from neutrality to compassion.
Jean’s testimony was received in the stillness of the presence of the Spirit. From the silence, Friends reflected the need to speak truth to those in political power.
The Clerk thanked Jean for sharing her witness and her hope, and invited a period of questions and answers. Discussion included an update on the current status of the Ramallah Friends Schools, memories of past involvement of Friends in Ramallah and elsewhere in Palestine, the Israeli peace movement (as well as local Jewish-American peace activism), repairs and renovation of Ramallah Friends Meeting, the inspiration that comes uniquely from experience, what others are doing and we might do (such as material aid and monitoring there, raising consciousness here, however we may be led) and the need to spread news of peace.
The minutes were read and approved, and announcements given. Then, after a brief period of worship, the Meeting adjourned, to reconvene Sixth-day morning at 9:00 a.m.
Mario Cavallini, recording clerk
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM