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District News & Announcements – April 2018

District News & Announcements

April 2018
Happy Easter!

Holiness in our Midst: Session 67

SESSION LXVII: ON SIGNS OF HOPE

What signs of hope for peace on earth do you see these days?

My friends and I have been tossing around this question, finding more examples of a world divided (and waxing eloquently about them) than one united. But on Sat., March 25, 2018, I was imbued with hope by three young women speakers at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. Organized by survivors of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, the event created a platform for Emma Gonzalez, Naomi Wadler, and Yolanda King.

• Emma Gonzalez, a survivor of the shooting, embodied the power of silence as tears streamed down her face. She stood for six minutes and 20 seconds, the time it took for the shooter to kill 17 and wound 15 students and teachers. She listed some of the events and interactions that would never happen again in the lives of the fallen before she stood silently before the crowd. Her final message: “Fight for your lives before it’s someone else’s job.”
• Naomi Wadler, 11, a fifth-grader from Alexandria, VA, said: “I am here today to acknowledge and represent the African American girls whose stories don’t make the front page of every national newspaper. I represent the African American women who are victims of gun violence, who are simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls full of potential. For far too long, these names, these black girls and women, have been just numbers.” Wadler ended, “I’m here to say, ‘Never again’ for those girls, too.” Black women are disproportionately represented among the victims of gun violence. She helped organized a walkout at her elementary school on March 14 to protest gun violence. She emphasized that she was not a tool of any organization, but rather represented herself and her own viewpoint.
• Yolanda King, 9, the granddaughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, joined Jaclyn Corin, junior class president at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, onstage after her talk. In the surprise appearance, King said: “I have a dream that enough is enough, and that this should be a gun-free world,” She closed by asking the crowd to repeat the words: “Spread the word! Have you heard? All across the nation, we are going to be a great generation!”

Though media attention was paid to these particular speakers and the rally itself for only a short news cycle, the event gave me a fresh vision for a better world. My take-home question: Where can I add my voice to larger issues with as much fearlessness as these young leaders exhibited?

STORY CIRCLE PROMPT: What signs of hope for peace on earth are you seeing?

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

1. Read the above reflection.
2. Write about your deepest reaction to current political events in your journal, using the Story Circle Prompt.

FOR GROUP STUDY:

1.   Read aloud Session LXVII.  
2.   Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Prompt.

[View Past Sessions Here]

Note: Holiness in Our Midst: Sharing Our Stories to Encourage and Heal is a monthly on-line feature created by Janis Pyle to facilitate sharing of our personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual practices with one another, especially through stories. Barriers are broken down when we begin to see all persons, even those with whom we disagree ideologically, as sacred and constantly attended to by a loving Creator. Each column is accompanied by a “story circle” prompt and study guides for personal and group reflection. To share your stories, contact Hannah Button-Harrison at communications@nplains.org. Janis Pyle can be reached at janispyle@yahoo.com.

District News & Announcements – March 2018

District News & Announcements

March 2018

Holiness in our Midst: Session 66

SESSION LXVI: ON ASKING JESUS

If Jesus were standing right here, right now, what would you ask Him?

I heard this question on Sunday morning, Sept. 19, 2004, during worship at a Church of the Brethren fellowship in Limeira, a city located 95 miles from Sao Paulo. I was traveling with a delegation visiting the denomination’s churches in Brazil in my role as coordinator for mission connections.

The pastor asked each of the thirty persons present, including children, to answer as a way of introducing ourselves to one another. The service was held in a poor section of the city, but there was a richness of spirit pervading the room. To a one, the children asked for help for others, not just themselves: a job for a mother, health for a sibling, food for their family, freedom from addiction for a friend. The depth of the local answers was enlightening; we as North Americans tended toward asking for things that enriched ourselves. (One pastor from our delegation was so taken with this question that he brought it back to his congregation to use for sharing time in his worship services.)

Having just completed my cancer journey (successfully!), my current answer to this question would be to ask Jesus to make plain my path in the coming months. I would ask Him: Where would You have me focus my time and energies as I go forth in gratitude with a new appreciation for the gift of life?

STORY CIRCLE PROMPT: If Jesus were standing right here, right now, what would you ask Him?

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

1. Read the above reflection.
2. Write about a deeper need in your journal, using the Story Circle Prompt.

FOR GROUP STUDY:

1.   Read aloud Session LXVI.  
2.   Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Prompt.

[View Past Sessions Here]

Note: Holiness in Our Midst: Sharing Our Stories to Encourage and Heal is a monthly on-line feature created by Janis Pyle to facilitate sharing of our personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual practices with one another, especially through stories. Barriers are broken down when we begin to see all persons, even those with whom we disagree ideologically, as sacred and constantly attended to by a loving Creator. Each column is accompanied by a “story circle” prompt and study guides for personal and group reflection. To share your stories, contact Hannah Button-Harrison at communications@nplains.org. Janis Pyle can be reached at janispyle@yahoo.com.

District News & Announcements – February 2018

District News & Announcements

February 2018

Holiness in our Midst: Session 65

SESSION LXV: ON FUN FACTS

A fun fact about myself is that I inhale Amish novels, at the rate of about 10 per month, year after year. Yes, there are that many out there. Authors keep writing them in single volumes, compilations of novellas and series.

Aren’t they all the same with minor changes in locations and circumstances? Well, yes and no. Most are coming-of-age stories of young women faced with the choice of living out in the English world with its myriad temptation and marrying within their familiar and comfortable (but limited) community life. Each character, though, has a twist that complicates the choice: like a controlling family (Will the father stop the marriage?), a hidden ailment (Will he still love her if he finds out she can’t bear a child?) or a yearning for higher education (Will she have to forgo her interest in becoming a veterinarian to stay in the community?).

Most are easy reads, but quite well written. Descriptions of Pennsylvania Dutch meals make my mouth water. Recipes are often included. Between the lines, authors infuse their favorite sayings (“The good stuff lies on the other side of fear.”) and philosophies of life (“We are all just people in training.” Shelley Shepard Gray), which I find quite applicable to my own. If you think you might like to enter deep into the joys and heartaches of Amish families, here is a list of authors to start with: Wanda Brunstetter, Amy Clipston, Jerry S. Eicher, Shelley Shepard Gray, Beverly Lewis, Beth Wiseman and Cindy Woodsmall.

STORY CIRCLE PROMPT: What are some fun facts about yourself?

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

1. Read the above reflection.
2. In your journal, write down a few fun facts about yourself. Explore whether they give clues to life changes you might want to make.

FOR GROUP STUDY:

1.   Read aloud Session LXV  
2.   Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Prompt.

[View Past Sessions Here]

Note: Holiness in Our Midst: Sharing Our Stories to Encourage and Heal is a monthly on-line feature created by Janis Pyle to facilitate sharing of our personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual practices with one another, especially through stories. Barriers are broken down when we begin to see all persons, even those with whom we disagree ideologically, as sacred and constantly attended to by a loving Creator. Each column is accompanied by a “story circle” prompt and study guides for personal and group reflection. To share your stories, contact Hannah Button-Harrison at communications@nplains.org. Janis Pyle can be reached at janispyle@yahoo.com.

District News & Announcements – January 2018

District News & Announcements

January 2018

Holiness in our Midst: Session 64

SESSION LIIX: ON MISSION FIELDS

Late last summer I went to a funeral in a church I had not attended before. As I was leaving the parking lot, a sign greeted me: You are now entering the mission field. The message on the sign stayed with me and prompts the story circle question: Where is my mission field for this New Year? My mission field for the New Year is informed by the limits imposed by my cancer journey, which began last June. After chemotherapy and a successful mastectomy, I will undergo radiation from late January through March. I remain dedicated to my local community mission causes of hunger and homelessness awareness and to the denomination’s international mission sites, but, by necessity, my mission field this year will be myself. I will dedicate time to exercise, healthy eating, positive self-talk, and attention to appearance and fashion. When I re-enter the public arena, hopefully, it will be from an enhanced self-awareness and the ability to sustain a life of advocacy with even more strength.

STORY CIRCLE PROMPT: What mission field are you being called to during the New Year?

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

1. Read the above reflection.
2. Picture Jesus handing you a personal invitation to join with Him working in a new mission field this year. What does the invitation say? Did you say ‘yes?’ Write about the spiritual exercise.

FOR GROUP STUDY:

1.   Read aloud Session LIIX.  
2.   Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Prompt.

[View Past Sessions Here]

Note: Holiness in Our Midst: Sharing Our Stories to Encourage and Heal is a monthly on-line feature created by Janis Pyle to facilitate sharing of our personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual practices with one another, especially through stories. Barriers are broken down when we begin to see all persons, even those with whom we disagree ideologically, as sacred and constantly attended to by a loving Creator. Each column is accompanied by a “story circle” prompt and study guides for personal and group reflection. To share your stories, contact Hannah Button-Harrison at communications@nplains.org. Janis Pyle can be reached at janispyle@yahoo.com.

District News & Announcements – December 2017

District News & Announcements

December 2017

Holiness in our Midst: Session 63

SESSION LXIII: ON QUAKER QUESTIONS

Writer’s note: The “Four Quaker Questions” are frequently-used ice-breakers in small groups. They are: 1) Where did you live between the ages of 7 and 12? 2) How did you heat your home then? 3) What or who was the center of human warmth in your family? Why? 4) When, if ever, did God become more than a mere word to you? If you ask participants these questions in a group setting, leave plenty of time for answers, because they call forth deep and strong emotions.

Following is my answer to Questions 3:

The center of warmth in my family between 7 and 12 was the family table each evening in Urbandale, IA, a suburb of Des Moines. Days were hectic with work and school, but at supper time we slowed down. We shared stories from our daily lives while savoring tasty meals. (The recipes were from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook.) My father had remarried the year I was 9. My siblings, Jill, 5, Jerry, 8, and Janet, 13, and I were still coming to grips with the death of our mother two years earlier. In addition to moving from a farm setting, we acquired overnight a step mother, an older step brother, Arthur, who had just joined the Navy, and a step sister, Jean, who was in high school. Adjustments were required on all our parts, but our blended family came together with love and laughter as we passed around the spare ribs or pork chop casserole. On Sundays, we had pot roast that simmered in the oven while we were at church. When we got home, we added carrots, potatoes and onions while we changed clothes and anticipated another family time of togetherness. A testimony to our shared meals is the fact that the family table is still important to each of us as a symbol of security in our lives.

STORY CIRCLE PROMPT: Ask the group to answer one or more of the four Quaker Questions.

FOR PERSONAL/JOURNAL REFLECTION:

1. Read the above reflection.
2. Write expanded answers to the four Quaker Questions as an exercise in self-understanding.

FOR GROUP STUDY:

1.   Read aloud Session LXIII.  
2.   Ask each person to answer the Story Circle Prompt.

[View Past Sessions Here]

Note: Holiness in Our Midst: Sharing Our Stories to Encourage and Heal is a monthly on-line feature created by Janis Pyle to facilitate sharing of our personal experiences, thoughts, beliefs, and spiritual practices with one another, especially through stories. Barriers are broken down when we begin to see all persons, even those with whom we disagree ideologically, as sacred and constantly attended to by a loving Creator. Each column is accompanied by a “story circle” prompt and study guides for personal and group reflection. To share your stories, contact Hannah Button-Harrison at communications@nplains.org. Janis Pyle can be reached at janispyle@yahoo.com.