Christmas Message Sharing

The following witness was developed by the Intergenerational Committee and approved by meeting for ministry and counsel.  Friends were asked to submit inspirational quotations that had special meaning to them.  The quotations along with the authors and the names of the submitting Friends were each recorded on a sheet and handed out randomly to Friends attending the annual Christmas Entertainment held in December.  Friends receiving the sheets had the opportunity to read the quotations aloud and most chose to do so.  What occurred as a fleeting thought to Norma Heller during worship evolved by Quaker process into an intergenerational activity that may well be repeated in years to come.. 

The quotations, the authors and the Friends who submitted them are as follows:

Mother Superior says to Maria: “Whenever God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.”

-The Journal of George Fox, part XVIII, p. 445

-Micah 6:8

Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.

The carol (Away in a Manger) makes me think of how tiny & vulnerable Jesus was when he was born! He couldn’t survive on his own. I think of the love that sent the Child to us and the trust God had in humanity… feeble and fickle as we are. I realize how vulnerable we all are, that God still trusts us with each other. The love that came to us on the first Christmas demands that we nurture, protect and love each other, with the same tenderness we show for the Infant Jesus. The same stars look down where we lay. And the light that filled the stable has found its way onto all of us and asks that we recognize and encourage it in others. The same peace that filled the stable strengthens us and gives us the courage to try again… and again… and again.

What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?

Each and every Quaker is called as a prophet, called as a gospel preacher to give witness to the message of brotherly love and peace that was given us by Jesus.

I expect to pass through this world but once;
Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any
Kindness that I can show to any fellow-creature,
let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it,
for I shall not pass this way again.

As a deer longs for flowing streams,
So my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
….
Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts;
All your waves and your billows have gone over me.
By day the lord commands his steadfast love,
And at night his song is with me,
A prayer to the God of my life.

-Psalm 42, verses 1-2 and 7-8

Be thou the well by which I lie and rest;
Be thou my tree of life, my garden ground;
Be thou my home, my fire, my chamber blest,
My book of wisdom, loved of all the best;
Oh, be my friend, each day still newer found,
As the eternal days and nights go round!
Nay, nay--thou art my God, in whom all loves are bound!

Drew Horn had an epiphany when he was 40. He had spent half his life in bed, literally. He was overweight, bipolar, unemployed and miserable. As an abused child, he struggled with mental illness since high school. He had attempted suicide twice and was in and out of psychiatric hospitals. His daughter and he soon made a pact. He took suicide off the table. He followed a love of comedy from night clubs to nursing homes. He loved performing and joking about mental health and getting by. He realized that his true calling was to work for those who had no friends. Today, he is the friend of the friendless in nursing homes, mental health facilities and other organizations throughout New Jersey. He started with no money, coworkers or car, but his organization (Turn a Frown Around) has grown. Today he drives throughout the state making people happy. He has a psychiatrist and many volunteers who take the company van to bring unconditional love to those who feel unloved. He is a true inspiration to me.

Humility is the one virtue that you can’t brag about!

-(C.H.)

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. It will be enough.

-Theodore Roosevelt

Therefore the main thing in religion is to keep the conscience pure to the Lord, to know the guide, to follow the guide, to receive from him the light whereby I am to walk; and not to take things for truths because others see them to be truths; but to wait till the Spirit make them manifest to me; nor to run into worships, duties, performances, or practices, because others are led thither; but to wait till the Spirit lead me thither.