A very Dear Friend and dear, dear friend, Katherine Brown, has left this worldly plane.

A memorial Service in the manner of Friends will take place at Barnstable Firends Meeting, Sunday July 14th at 2pm. For more information contact Rachel at BarnstableFriends@aol.com  

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Every Sunday -- Meeting for Worship 

10:00am -- 2 Dr. Lords Rd. Dennis MA

ALL ARE WELCOME  --  COME CHECK US OUT

We are located at the corner of Route 6A, Dr. Lords Rd. and Sesuit Neck Road

There is a parking area in the front and on Sesuit Neck Rd and well as on Dr. Lords Rd.  just beyond the house and barn. Barnstable Friends Meeting is a Preparative Meeting of Mattapoisett Monthly Meeting. 

               NOTE: in the summer months the property is the space for the Eden Hand Arts

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Unprogrammed Worship

contemplation, silent prayer

At the center of Friends worship is the core belief in God as “present in dwelling teacher”. The silence of unprogrammed worship is not empty silence. During the silence there are heroic things happening. The Spirit is gently nudging each person in worship toward a central truth. The gathered meeting is the way of discerning that truth and ministry is the way that truth breaks the silence and is experienced.

FOR INFORMATION ON QUAKERISM IN GENERAL VISIT:  ~~ http://www.quaker.org/

A PERSONAL BLOG OF ONE MEMBER'S SPIRITUAL REFLECTION          Shttp://reflectionsfromtheeaglesnest.blogspot.com/

 These are prayers, messages or reflections that came to us out of the silence of our worship in the manner of Friends.

FOR PREVIOUS MESSAGES USE THE ABOVE "From off the Meetinghouse Floor" TAB, OR CLICK ON "read more" at bottom of message. AND please consider "Following" the podcast.

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3-31-24 — From Off the Meetinghouse Floor Message

The Possibility for all our Dreams to Come True

Last week, someone spoke about how all the stars in the sky, more than could ever be counted in a human life span, in addition to solar systems, contain whole galaxies. It is estimated that there are between 200 billion to 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. These galaxies, like our Milky Way, likely hold trillions of solar systems. It therefore seems to me to be irrational to think that we are the only sentient life capable of abstract thinking and technological development in the universe. So where is everybody?

One theory is that when the human type of sentient life reaches a particular stage of industry and technology, somewhere before they develop interstellar travel, the society and/or planet implodes for what could be a whole host of reasons. This is something that many of us find easy to see happening in our world today, but it doesn’t negate the fact that there is probably an innumerable number of such life in the universe.

As I was contemplating this during worship, it occurred to me to ask if these entities are also present with me in that spiritual space? When I get into that place of perfect love, the place of light, of peace and compassion, when all those differences between me and other humans completely disappear, is this life from other planets present, too? On planet Earth, human experience can be radically different; for example, the life experience that I have and the life experience of a child in rural Africa is going to have very little in common, yet in that place of Spirit, all the differences are transcended. The question is, does this include that other sentient life in the universe?

As I pondered that in worship, what came to me was perhaps the most important spiritual answer to every question, and that is, “I don’t know.” “I don’t know” is present in that Schrodinger’s cat thought experiment of the cat being both alive and dead at the same time. “I don’t know” opens an infinite number of possibilities that, as I shared last week in hearing my grandmother’s voice say, “Anything and everything is possible until it isn’t.” This answer of “I don’t know” opens us to humility, which is an important aspect of the spiritual life.

“I don’t know” is the opposite of “I know something for certain,” which is when the Schrodinger cat box is opened, and you know for sure if it’s alive or dead. “I know for certain” can lead to hubris. It closes off any other possibility when the possibility no longer exists. If “I don’t know” is the ultimate answer to a metaphysical question it allows that space of universal love, compassion, and peace to be possible beyond our wildest dreams. It’s OK to not know, and actually, it’s not just OK – it’s beautiful. It creates the possibility for love, peace, and compassion to be a universal reality and the possibility for all our dreams to come true. =====================

3-24-24 — From Off the Meetinghouse Floor Message

Part Two of The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

Last week was that Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad week. This podcast is part two when that very bad week started to turn toward the light. An analogy that seems to work well is that of an egg, an egg whose shell is so thick and strong it seemed like a rock. As the week progressed, that shell started to crack, a crack where the light could enter.

There were five different tools that were helpful for me in this process. One of those tools was organizing and documenting where I was in the process. This meant that I was keeping notes on the date and time and what person A said to person B, etc. Keeping track of all these interactions was a useful tool to see where the next steps were, which things were stuck, and where there could be movement.

The second tool that was useful for me was what I called the three P’s. The first P is perseverance, don’t give up. Since high school, a personal motto has been “persevere in the face of all adversity.” The second P is persistence; just keep at it, so don’t give up and just keep going. The third P is patience, which is actually very hard for me.

The third tool, and perhaps one of the most important tools, is humor. When I looked at what I was going through from a different perspective, it could easily have been turned into a very funny Monty Python episode or a Mr. Bean episode if you know that English comic. One of the first things I did during all this was to wind my cuckoo clock. Every hour, I was reminded that this was just a really funny skit that I was in. Many spiritual/religious traditions around the world have trickster or joker aspects of the divine that can turn things on their heads at a moment’s notice when you least expect it. And it’s all part of that, perhaps divine comedy or that comic dance.

The fourth tool is that as that egg is cracking, it is not just being open to change but embracing change. This is the gift of the divine trickster. Friday night, I had a dream of being spoken to by one of my great-grandmothers, who said to me in a southern drawl, “Anything and everything is possible until it isn’t.”

The fifth tool is having faith, having faith that everything is going to work out as it’s supposed to work out. It means having faith that there’s something that will carry us through and perhaps even produce a far better outcome or place for us to be than it was before.

When I think about this in the larger context of where I was the week before, in terms of complexity building around the globe and how hard it will be for humanity to cope, maybe these five tools will be something that can be helpful: 1st, the idea that we keep track of where we’re at; 2nd, that we persevere, persist, and have patience; 3rd, that we find the humor in life because you know there’s that old saying that “People plan, and God laughs”; 4th, being open to the change that the cosmic comic brings; and Finally, having faith – faith in other human beings, faith in humanity, and faith in that which connects us all to each other. And ultimately, having faith in the power of love3 =====================

2-17-24 — From Off the Meetinghouse Floor Message

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week, Part One

Last week was probably in the top 50 of the worst weeks of my life. When Saturday came, I spent prayer time considering what happened so I could both try to prevent it from happening again and hear any divine lesson that came out of the experience. As I started thinking about the bigger picture I considered how it related to (for lack of a better term) the cosmic order or cosmic dance and finally considered what I was being called to on a spiritual level. What is the spiritual purpose that I am being asked to fulfill as a result of this horrible week? How can I be of service to the common good?

What made the week so impossible started as just the one relatively small business problem of getting information that was needed by one large complex corporation from another equally complex multi-layered corporation. Over the next couple of days, this turned into five, then six different serious problems, including issues that prevented my staff from being paid (yikes). These multiple issues increased to four large bureaucracies being involved and a couple of other smaller companies, none of which were able or willing to communicate with each other. In addition, each bureaucracy had a huge amount of different departments that weren’t able or willing to communicate with each other. The end result was deadlock.

One example was that I went to one of their websites that I hadn’t been at for a while, figuring I’d have to reset my password. Instead, they said that there was no account associated with the email. So, I went to create an account and got a message that they couldn’t create one because the email was already associated with an account. I was caught in a circular trap. This happened over and over again with all the corporations and I tried everything I could think of. I read all the prompts trying all that could be remotely relevant. I tried different email addresses. I tried calling, and after being told it was not that person’s department they referred me to someone else, who referred me to a different person, who referred me back to the first person I talked to. Another call required me to talk with a specific salesperson before the information I needed would be released and that person turned out to be on maternity leave. Nothing shifted any part of this into the rhythm necessary to move forward. It felt like all I could do was cry.

The complexity I encountered had gotten so extreme that it turned into chaos, and the chaos turned into a sort of entropy (defined among other things as a doctrine of inevitable social decline and degeneration.)* The Second Law of Thermodynamics explains that as entropy increases, energy to do work becomes unavailable. “The state of entropy of the entire universe, as an isolated system, will always increase over time.”** This is true within any isolated system such as a bureaucracy. The solution to every problem in all complex multi-layered corporation, is to add more layers of personnel, which turn into more management, more departments, and more systems and processes, effectively slowing down decision-making until complexity makes interactions impossible.

The larger concern is that this is most likely present in the close to 400,000 other large, complex bureaucracies around the globe. It’s clear this is unsustainable. As the level of complexity moves into chaos and then entropy, humanity does not have the mental or emotional tools to deal with this. Since we are all connected in the web of life (and the internet), there are ramifications on a cosmic level individually, collectively, and globally. Another way of thinking about the cosmic level is a cosmic dance, a dance where we all move to a rhythm or music. If humanity descends into chaotic insanity, we will not be able to participate in this dance, so then what? (Tune in next week for an analysis of a possible spiritual path forward) * https://www.dictionary.com/browse/entropy **https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/314019/spontaneous-processes-and-entropy-of-the-universe =====================

To many of us at Barnstable Friends Meeting, it seems that as a society we are at an inflection point. 

Great and horrible things are afoot and collectively we can choose which path to take. As this time requires active, diverse, powerful and spiritual ways to move us personally and societally forward toward the goal of beloved community,

please share with white people you know who might need to learn a bit more about why Black Lives Matter.

https://tools4racialjustice.net/ 

May all our lives speak Truth, Justice, 
Peace and Love,
Barnstable Friends Meeting

Toward real peace in a beautiful world

Toward Real Peace in a beautiful world -- published in Cape Cod Times Oct. 16, 2014

Recent letters to the editor criticize County Human Rights commissioner Elenita Muniz for saying “…everyone who is white-skinned is racist.”  One author says she "…should be investigated for hate speech and terminated.”  My purpose for writing is not to judge or get into an argument. Rather to offer a personal statement originally written in 2002 (with slight updating). It also contains a prayer from me and my Friends Meeting for this holiday season, a time of Light returning. 

...

Hello, my name is Rachel and I'm a racist. No, I'm not secretly a member of the KKK; rather I have come to admit that my attitudes and assumptions around race are unmanageable in a just society. I look to a Power greater then myself to restore me to sanity. 

Just as our collective thinking about what it means to be an alcoholic has changed from simply a derelict with a paper sack to include "respectable" people, so my personal thinking has changed regarding the affliction of racism. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a racist as a person who “…believes that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.” While I certainly don't consciously believe this, what about an unconscious belief because of being raised in white privilege? Doesn't this count?  

At a very early age I was very carefully taught and conditioned. Being from a "good" Quaker family, it was most easy for me to deny any part of this problem.  Of course prejudice is wrong. And after all, Friends were on the forefront of the civil rights movement.  Yet white privilege has affected the very structure of my mind. I viewed white practices, customs and attitudes as the norm against which others were to be compared. My spirit requires that I now struggle with the results of these attitudes and entitlements not enjoyed by other groups, including: 

•  Not having to see or feel that Ferguson or all such incidents — before and after — are in any way connected to me or are my problem.

•  Still looking at faces of my society’s leaders and seeing mostly people of my race (congress is 87% white yet people of color make up 30% of our population).

•  Having my race be the source of all the art and music "Great Masterpieces.”

•  Being taught in school about all the famous explorers, philosophers, leaders, etc. who happened to all be members of my race. The list goes on.

Although I have been slow to precisely name my addiction, I have been in recovery for some time now.  Knowing that I am FAR from perfect, I try to educate myself, promptly admit it when I am wrong regarding issues faced by people of color, and work at make amends. Just as importantly, I seek through prayer to bring spiritual energy for a solution both within my heart and the world.  I look forward to someday reaping a harvest of Joy, Light and Oneness.

.....

In closing we ask each reader: Are we morally, spiritually and visibly, stepping into this moment?  Are we bearing witness both to the injustice and also to how Spirit is being made manifest for us at this particular time and situation? How do we build a truly beloved community that embraces that of God in everyone? Are we a part of this awakening, speaking Truth about who we are in relationship to all humankind, all our relations? 

At this season, may each of us be lamps of pure Love and Light to bring a new dawn of real peace into this beautiful world.

Rachel Carey-Harper

Barnstable Friends Meeting