|
Friends United
Meeting |
 |
Weekly Devotional and Prayer requests from FUM
May 11-17, 2012
A meditation: “The Quaker ideal is to make every meal at every table
a Lord's Supper. …The reality lies, not in the nature of the material
substance, but in the way it stirs the heart of every partaker. The Quakers,
and all Christians, are called upon to remember Christ every time bread
is broken.
— The Sacraments, Aspects of the Quaker Vision, Whittier First
Friends Church, Whittier, California
Early Christians gathered together for “agape feasts,” communal meals that included the whole community—folks coming together to share food as equals without attention to financial or social status, without consideration to gender or rank. Eating together led to a deeper understanding, a faith community that was diverse and often at odds. It led to deeper communal prayer. It brought a real and palatable expression of the kingdom—the experience—of God.
In my small rural meeting we’ve renewed the practice of gathering once a month or so at each other’s homes on a Friday evening to share a meal with conversation and camaraderie. No program, no agenda—the goal is simply being together. Some of us bring a fancy, others a customary dish. Some of us bring what is expected others try to surprise and delight. Some stick with the tried and true, others experiment. It’s interesting and it’s fun and its community at its best.
When I was traveling among Friends with the World Committee I heard it referred to as a “carry in.” Here in Vermont we call it “potluck,” and that term seems to be becoming more wide spread. When I’m talking to my Mom, though, I call it a “covered dish” because to her potluck is the miscellaneous dishes—left over’s, sandwiches, soup—you put together for unexpected company (I can still hear her saying to my aunts “Oh, why don’t you stay for supper? It’ll just be potluck.”)
Good names, all. Eating together, coming to know each other softens our conflicts, brings us into a stronger community, whatever we call it. In the sharing, in the eating, in the cleaning-up, God is present. Halleluiah. —cdw
- Pray for safety for all those who live and work in the Kaimosi compound, as there has been an alarming increase in violent break-ins and burglary in the staff housing for both Kaimosi Hospital and Friends Theological College.
- Pray for Friends United Meeting Africa Ministry’s staff member Judith Ngoya as she recovers from surgery on medical leave for the rest of the month of May.
- Give thanks for the Christian Peace Team Holy Week delegation to Southern Bolivar, Colombia. Pray for delegation members as they work in solidarity with communities ravaged by internal conflict with their lands coveted by armed groups for their wealth of natural resources. (Prayers for Peacemakers, May 9, 2012)
- Thank God for the successful conclusion of all of Friends United Meeting's programmes running before and after the World Conference of Friends. Pray that those who participated will feel God's guidance as they share their experiences with their home meetings/churches, and that they will be led into new forms of relationship, service and witness as a result of what they experienced in Kenya.
- The Africa Ministries Office (AMO) is our May Ministry of the Month. Remember in your prayers this month all of the hard work of our staff and the many projects they coordinate. We love you Judith, John, and Eden!