Mindful Moment

On Tuesday night before bed I went out, into the snowy cold, and trudged down to the Guilford lake. I did this not to go for a swim (thankfully), but to admire the “Wolf Moon,” a name for the first full moon in January, when the moon is closest in orbit to the earth. While it is difficult to capture on camera, the reader can see my attempt to do so above. I sat with a friend on a bench overlooking the lake, staring up at the moon and what few stars were visible over the light pollution of downtown Greensboro. As I sat in the cold, feeling the refreshing wind against my face and my toes go numb from the snow, two ideas came to mind:
First, I remembered part of the lectionary reading for the First Sunday after Christmas, December 26: “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it (John 1.5).” I could not help but notice this incredibly bright light in the sky, a light that was not overcome by the darkness of the night but dominated the darkness. Several years ago I went camping in a snowy January during the Wolf Moon, and was kept awake by the brilliant light in the sky. During the day we take the sun for granted, but at night we are impressed by the continuing light of the sun reflecting off of the moon.
Second, after noticing the brilliance of the moon, I realized how few stars were visible – and remembered how few stars are normally visible in Greensboro. It occurred to me that we have blocked out natural, celestial light with our own, artificial, human-created light. Perhaps we should take a moment to leave our artificial light (a light which for most of us is powered by earth-destroying energy) and observe the brilliance of the light provided for us.

This Mindful Moment provided by Jacob Perkins ’22

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Upcoming Events

Day	Date	Time	Event	Location	Organization
Thursday	1.20.2022	6:00 PM	Student Game Night	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Thursday	1.20.2022	7:24 PM	Student Fellowship	Moon Room	Guilford Christian Ministry
Sunday	1.23.2022	11:00 AM	Informal Episcopal Worship: liturgy, communion, prayers, & hymns. All are welcome.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	1.25.2022	6:30 PM	Community Meal: home cooked meal and with friends, new and old! Optional Bible study at 7:15.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	1.25.2022	7:00 PM	UKIRK Tuesday	Holderness House	UKIRK Greensboro (PCUSA/ Presbyterian)
Friday – Saturday	2.18-19.2022		Ripple Conference	Virtual/Friends Center	Elon University/ Friends Center

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Resources

To find information about the Interfaith Leadership Council, faith leaders who work with students on campus, or to see a full calendar of all campus faith-related events, visit our Multifaith page.

The Friends Center Prayer Room is available to students of all faiths and spiritual journeys. Ideal for prayer, meditation, or reflection, we encourage folks to make use of this space. See our flyer for more information.

To contact Friends Center Director Wess Daniels, email danielscw@guilford.edu.

To contact QLSP Director Liz Nicholson, email nicholsonea@guilford.edu

For a variety of self-care resources, visit our Self-Care page.

To provide feedback or suggestions, submissions for artwork or Mindful Moments, or questions about this newsletter, contact perkinsja1@guilford.edu.

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About Friends Center:

Friends Center is a collaborative project between the Religious Society of Friends and Guilford College. Friends Center is responsible for nurturing Quaker life and renewal on campus, building and sustaining interfaith cooperation on campus, and building relationships with the global Quaker community. To read more about Friends Center, visit the homepage of our website.

Mindful Moment

“Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think.” How can we practice molding our mind? What are practices that can help better our minds? 

“The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.” How can we take care of the present moment? 

This Mindful Moment provided by Karla Goss

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Courses in Religious Studies

The Department of Religious Studies is excited to announce its Spring 2022 course offerings! Access this document to see courses and a brief description of each. Please contact peterfesojm@guilford.edu for more information.

Upcoming Events

Day	Date	Time	Event	Location	Organization
Thursday	12.9.2021	6:00 PM	Student Game Night	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Thursday	12.9.2021	7:24 PM	Student Fellowship	Moon Room	Guilford Christian Ministry
Sunday	12.12.2021	11:00 AM	Informal Episcopal Worship: liturgy, communion, prayers, & hymns. All are welcome.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	12.14.2021	6:30 PM	Community Meal: home cooked meal and with friends, new and old! Optional Bible study at 7:15.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	12.14.2021	7:00 PM	UKIRK Tuesday	Holderness House	UKIRK Greensboro (PCUSA/ Presbyterian)

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Job Opportunities:

Associate Superintendent for Western Yearly Meeting. See files below for more info:

Friends World Committee for Consultation Advancement Manager. See file below for more info:

Resources

To find information about the Interfaith Leadership Council, faith leaders who work with students on campus, or to see a full calendar of all campus faith-related events, visit our Multifaith page.

The Friends Center Prayer Room is available to students of all faiths and spiritual journeys. Ideal for prayer, meditation, or reflection, we encourage folks to make use of this space. See our flyer for more information.

To contact Friends Center Director, email danielscw@guilford.edu.

For a variety of self-care resources, visit our Self-Care page.

To provide feedback or suggestions, submissions for artwork or Mindful Moments, or questions about this newsletter, contact perkinsja1@guilford.edu.

---

About Friends Center:

Friends Center is a collaborative project between the Religious Society of Friends and Guilford College. Friends Center is responsible for nurturing Quaker life and renewal on campus, building and sustaining interfaith cooperation on campus, and building relationships with the global Quaker community. To read more about Friends Center, visit the homepage of our website.

Mindful Moment

Excerpts from Mary: Revolutionary for Our Time by C. Wess Daniels

Mary, a young Jewish woman living on occupied land, yet without child, a refugee and therefore even more vulnerable, was in a very real sense powerless — at least in terms of how “the world” measures such things. This is the person who offers “space for the uncontained space for God” that Denise Levertov speaks of. This womb of God born outside of class, racial, or educational privilege, born without rights, and hunted down by the government, would eventually be imprisoned, brutalized by Rome’s police and executed by the state. His birth is a concrete witness of God’s preferential option for the poor and disenfranchised in this world. His birth, life and death show which side of history God is on.

Advent begins a deep counter-narrative to Wall Street and the White House be damned: this baby comes on the edges of empire, in public housing and hidden from government authorities.

Mary is a model revolutionary of our time. She is a religious woman, persecuted and imprisoned by the Roman empire, and she is a political visionary. She does not separate the two, for her prayer is not abdication, it is movement, it is real and radical change, and she knows that only with God’s help can things be turned around now.

This year I am grateful for Advent because it reminds me that Mary’s work is not yet done; Mary’s work is still our work. While the moral arc bends towards justice, it requires hands and feet and moral imaginations to do the refracting. It also reminds me that we are not alone in these struggles, that we have a sister who, long ago and far away, took a step in courage and in faithfulness, and it turned out to be something far more revolutionary than she could have ever dreamed. It turned out to be a love that lifts up the lowly and tears down the mighty.

Read the full post here: https://gatheringinlight.com/2016/12/09/marys-revolution/

Queries:

• What does Mary’s way into this struggle for a world of love and justice teach us?
• In what ways do I continue to read the birth narratives more inline with Wall Street than I do with Flint, Ferguson, and Charleston?
• How have I missed the revolutionary narrative of the Christmas narrative in the past?

This Mindful Moment provided by Jacob Perkins ’22 and C. Wess Daniels

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Courses in Religious Studies

The Department of Religious Studies is excited to announce its Spring 2022 course offerings! Access this document to see courses and a brief description of each. Please contact peterfesojm@guilford.edu for more information.

Upcoming Events

Day	Date	Time	Event	Location	Organization
Wednesday	12.1.2021	5:45-7:00 PM	Connecting Conversations with Dr. Zhihong Chen	Moon Room	Friends Center
Thursday	12.2.2021	6:00 PM	Student Game Night	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Sunday	11.28.2021	11:00 AM	Informal Episcopal Worship: liturgy, communion, prayers, & hymns. All are welcome.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.30.2021	6:30 PM	Community Meal: home cooked meal and with friends, new and old! Optional Bible study at 7:15.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.30.2021	7:00 PM	UKIRK Tuesday	Holderness House	UKIRK Greensboro (PCUSA/ Presbyterian)

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Job Opportunities:

Associate Superintendent for Western Yearly Meeting. See files below for more info:

Friends World Committee for Consultation Advancement Manager. See file below for more info:

Resources

To find information about the Interfaith Leadership Council, faith leaders who work with students on campus, or to see a full calendar of all campus faith-related events, visit our Multifaith page.

The Friends Center Prayer Room is available to students of all faiths and spiritual journeys. Ideal for prayer, meditation, or reflection, we encourage folks to make use of this space. See our flyer for more information.

To contact Friends Center Director, email danielscw@guilford.edu.

For a variety of self-care resources, visit our Self-Care page.

To provide feedback or suggestions, submissions for artwork or Mindful Moments, or questions about this newsletter, contact perkinsja1@guilford.edu.

---

About Friends Center:

Friends Center is a collaborative project between the Religious Society of Friends and Guilford College. Friends Center is responsible for nurturing Quaker life and renewal on campus, building and sustaining interfaith cooperation on campus, and building relationships with the global Quaker community. To read more about Friends Center, visit the homepage of our website.

Mindful Moment

A couple of Rumi quotes

“Let yourself be silently drawn
by the strange pull
of what you really love…
it will not lead you astray. “

“It’s your road, and yours alone.
Others may walk it with you,
but no one can walk it for you.”

Query: I am in the midst of decisions which have enormous impacts on my future…discerning the next steps is something which has become an enormous part of my daily thoughts. These two Rumi quotes give me comfort and remind me that this journey is my journey…and that wherever I go it is my path (even if it is not the path I envisioned). What brings you comfort and guidance on your journey?

This Mindful Moment provided by Jacob Perkins ’22

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Courses in Religious Studies

The Department of Religious Studies is excited to announce its Spring 2022 course offerings! Access this document to see courses and a brief description of each. Please contact peterfesojm@guilford.edu for more information.

Upcoming Events

Day	Date	Time	Event	Location	Organization
Sunday	11.28.2021	11:00 AM	Informal Episcopal Worship: liturgy, communion, prayers, & hymns. All are welcome.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.30.2021	6:30 PM	Community Meal: home cooked meal and with friends, new and old! Optional Bible study at 7:15.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.30.2021	7:00 PM	UKIRK Tuesday	Holderness House	UKIRK Greensboro (PCUSA/ Presbyterian)
Wednesday	12.1.2021	5:45-7:00 PM	Connecting Conversations with Dr. Zhihong Chen	Moon Room	Friends Center

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Job Opportunity:

Associate Superintendent for Western Yearly Meeting. See pdf files below:

Resources

To find information about the Interfaith Leadership Council, faith leaders who work with students on campus, or to see a full calendar of all campus faith-related events, visit our Multifaith page.

The Friends Center Prayer Room is available to students of all faiths and spiritual journeys. Ideal for prayer, meditation, or reflection, we encourage folks to make use of this space. See our flyer for more information.

To contact Friends Center Director, email danielscw@guilford.edu.

For a variety of self-care resources, visit our Self-Care page.

To provide feedback or suggestions, submissions for artwork or Mindful Moments, or questions about this newsletter, contact perkinsja1@guilford.edu.

---

About Friends Center:

Friends Center is a collaborative project between the Religious Society of Friends and Guilford College. Friends Center is responsible for nurturing Quaker life and renewal on campus, building and sustaining interfaith cooperation on campus, and building relationships with the global Quaker community. To read more about Friends Center, visit the homepage of our website.

Mindful Moment

Keep Your Grit by Louis E. Thayer

Hang on! Cling on! No matter what they say,
Push on! Sing on! Things will come your way.
Sitting down and whining never help a bit –
Best way to get there is by keeping up your Grit.

Don’t give up hoping when the ship goes down;
Grab a spar or something, just refuse to drown.
Don’t think you’re dying just because you’re hit;
Smile in face of danger and hang on to your Grit.

Folks die too easy, they sort o’ fade away;
Make a little error and give up in dismay;
Kind o’ man that’s needed is the man of ready wit
To laugh at pain and loss and keep fast hold his Grit.

Query: With this poem, It expresses having this inner focus within yourself to press on and keep moving forward. As many of us are aware, we are almost nearing the end of this semester, and some of us may be feeling burnt out, exhausted, and even losing the spirit to keep going. Yet we shouldn’t give up. Even if we feel like we hit a wall with the work in our way, we shouldn’t let ourselves be disheartened. Because we shouldn’t give up here, and we won’t get things done if we were to give up. So let’s keep our heads held high, and put our best foot forward beyond the finish line.

This Mindful Moment provided by Brandon Sisnett

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Courses in Religious Studies

The Department of Religious Studies is excited to announce its Spring 2022 course offerings! Access this document to see courses and a brief description of each. Please contact peterfesojm@guilford.edu for more information.

Upcoming Events

Day	Date	Time	Event	Location	Organization
Thursday	11.18.2021	6:00 PM	Games Night	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Thursday	11.18.2021	7:24 PM	Weekly Fellowship & Bible Study	Moon Room	Guilford Christian Ministry
Friday	11.19.2021	4:00 – 5:00 PM	Quaker Meeting Worship (QLSP focus but open to all)	Moon Room	Friends Center
Saturday	11.20.2021	10:00 AM – Noon	Free Farmer’s Market	New Garden Park	GCM/Church of the Redeemer
Sunday	11.21.2021	11:00 AM	Informal Episcopal Worship: liturgy, communion, prayers, & hymns. All are welcome.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.23.2021	6:30 PM	Community Meal: home cooked meal and with friends, new and old! Optional Bible study at 7:15.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.23.2021	7:00 PM	UKIRK Tuesday	Holderness House	UKIRK Greensboro (PCUSA/ Presbyterian)
Wednesday	12.1.2021	5:45-7:00 PM	Connecting Conversations with Dr. Zhihong Chen	Moon Room	Friends Center

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Resources

To find information about the Interfaith Leadership Council, faith leaders who work with students on campus, or to see a full calendar of all campus faith-related events, visit our Multifaith page.

The Friends Center Prayer Room is available to students of all faiths and spiritual journeys. Ideal for prayer, meditation, or reflection, we encourage folks to make use of this space. See our flyer for more information.

To contact Friends Center Director, email danielscw@guilford.edu.

For a variety of self-care resources, visit our Self-Care page.

To provide feedback or suggestions, submissions for artwork or Mindful Moments, or questions about this newsletter, contact perkinsja1@guilford.edu.

---

About Friends Center:

Friends Center is a collaborative project between the Religious Society of Friends and Guilford College. Friends Center is responsible for nurturing Quaker life and renewal on campus, building and sustaining interfaith cooperation on campus, and building relationships with the global Quaker community. To read more about Friends Center, visit the homepage of our website.

Mindful Moment

Dolly Parton’s Stairway to Heaven

In the Dolly Parton version of Stairway to Heaven, she sings these modified lyrics: 

Oh, the great almighty dollar
Leaves you lonely, lost and hollow
You can’t fool yourself forever
You gotta work to get to Heaven (Heaven)
Stairway to Heaven (Heaven)
If we listen and hold fast (Heaven)
To every question that we asked
The truth will come to us at last

Here, Dolly presents a unique argument in the current society we live in. Against the backdrop of increasing wealth inequality, poverty, and climate disaster, she separates the idea from work from the idea of money. It begs the question: how hard will we work to be spiritually fulfilled? Does that “work” feel as worth it as the work we do for money? Is it really work at all if it feeds back into us? 

So in the spirit of that, a query. How do we separate the work for love of God, love of Light, and love of community from the work that is created for the love of capital? 

This Mindful Moment provided by Jim Glenn

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Courses in Religious Studies

The Department of Religious Studies is excited to announce its Spring 2022 course offerings! Access this document to see courses and a brief description of each. Please contact peterfesojm@guilford.edu for more information.

Upcoming Events

Day	Date	Time	Event	Location	Organization
Thursday	11.11.2021	6:00 PM	Games Night	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Thursday	11.11.2021	7:24 PM	Weekly Fellowship & Bible Study	Moon Room	Guilford Christian Ministry
Friday	11.12.2021	4:00 – 5:00 PM	Quaker Meeting Worship (QLSP focus but open to all)	Moon Room	Friends Center
Saturday	11.13.2021	10:00 AM – Noon	Free Farmer’s Market	New Garden Park	GCM/Church of the Redeemer
Sunday	11.14.2021	11:00 AM	Informal Episcopal Worship: liturgy, communion, prayers, & hymns. All are welcome.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.16.2021	6:30 PM	Community Meal: home cooked meal and with friends, new and old! Optional Bible study at 7:15.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.16.2021	7:00 PM	UKIRK Tuesday	Holderness House	UKIRK Greensboro (PCUSA/ Presbyterian)
Wednesday	12.1.2021	5:45-7:00 PM	Connecting Conversations with Dr. Zhihong Chen	Moon Room	Friends Center

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Resources

To find information about the Interfaith Leadership Council, faith leaders who work with students on campus, or to see a full calendar of all campus faith-related events, visit our Multifaith page.

The Friends Center Prayer Room is available to students of all faiths and spiritual journeys. Ideal for prayer, meditation, or reflection, we encourage folks to make use of this space. See our flyer for more information.

To contact Friends Center Director, email danielscw@guilford.edu.

For a variety of self-care resources, visit our Self-Care page.

To provide feedback or suggestions, submissions for artwork or Mindful Moments, or questions about this newsletter, contact perkinsja1@guilford.edu.

---

About Friends Center:

Friends Center is a collaborative project between the Religious Society of Friends and Guilford College. Friends Center is responsible for nurturing Quaker life and renewal on campus, building and sustaining interfaith cooperation on campus, and building relationships with the global Quaker community. To read more about Friends Center, visit the homepage of our website.

Mindful Moment

Excerpt from Christian Century: New York Public Library’s Act of Grace

“Many of us look for small signs of hope that might circumvent national politics and render relief to people on the margins. Happily, in this regard, the New York Public Library recently made a beautiful announcement. The library will no longer charge late fees on overdue books and media resources, and it will waive all fines accrued from the past. While this may sound like minor tinkering with a tiny piece of everyday life, its impact is huge…

…It’s a gracious institutional move on the part of an enormous library reaching out into a sometimes ungracious world. To suddenly erase fees while trusting patrons to bring books back sounds an awful lot like the arithmetic of grace. The oddity and wonder of that five-letter word is that it’s undeserved, unexpected, and often astonishing. Grace has a way of dispensing with things we’ve been taught: Pay your dues, or else. There’s a fee for that. Don’t expect a freebie.“

Query: Our author says, “Grace was never meant to be an exclusively religious word, devoid of all meaning in the wider culture.” Despite this ‘secular’ use of grace, I can’t help but see this grace as a thing of the Spirit – wherever there is good in the world, I believe that there also is God. How can we (as individuals, as an institution, as a community) show grace to those around us?

Click here to access the full article.

This Mindful Moment provided by Jacob Perkins

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Upcoming Events

Day	Date	Time	Event	Location	Organization
Thursday	11.4.2021	6:00 PM	JAM Session: open jam surrounded by visual artists.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Thursday	11.4.2021	7:24 PM	Weekly Fellowship & Bible Study	Moon Room	Guilford Christian Ministry
Friday	11.5.2021	4:00 – 5:00 PM	Quaker Meeting Worship (QLSP focus but open to all)	Moon Room	Friends Center
Saturday	11.6.2021	10:00 AM – Noon	Free Farmer’s Market	New Garden Park	GCM/Church of the Redeemer
Sunday	11.7.2021	11:00 AM	Informal Episcopal Worship: liturgy, communion, prayers, & hymns. All are welcome.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.9.2021	6:30 PM	Community Meal: home cooked meal and with friends, new and old! Optional Bible study at 7:15.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.9.2021	7:00 PM	UKIRK Tuesday	Holderness House	UKIRK Greensboro (PCUSA/ Presbyterian)
Wednesday	11.10.2021	5:45-7:00 PM	Connecting Conversations: Life as Pilgrimage with Garrett Collins	Moon Room	Friends Center

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Resources

To find information about the Interfaith Leadership Council, faith leaders who work with students on campus, or to see a full calendar of all campus faith-related events, visit our Multifaith page.

The Friends Center Prayer Room is available to students of all faiths and spiritual journeys. Ideal for prayer, meditation, or reflection, we encourage folks to make use of this space. See our flyer for more information.

To contact Friends Center Director, email danielscw@guilford.edu.

For a variety of self-care resources, visit our Self-Care page.

To provide feedback or suggestions, submissions for artwork or Mindful Moments, or questions about this newsletter, contact perkinsja1@guilford.edu.

---

About Friends Center:

Friends Center is a collaborative project between the Religious Society of Friends and Guilford College. Friends Center is responsible for nurturing Quaker life and renewal on campus, building and sustaining interfaith cooperation on campus, and building relationships with the global Quaker community. To read more about Friends Center, visit the homepage of our website.

Mindful Moment

Abd al-Rahman’s Palm Tree

“A palm tree stands in the middle of Rusafa,
Born in the West, far from the land of palms.
I said to it: How like me you are, far away and in exile,
In long separation from family and friends.
You have sprung from soil in which you are a stranger;
And I, like you, am far from home.”

Query: This poem, written by Abd al-Rahman I in eighth century Al-Andalus, expresses nostalgia and homesickness for his birthplace in Damascus by identifying with the palm tree (one of the hundreds of flora he had transplanted from Syria and other Arab lands). Is there an object with which you identify – which reminds you of your past, who you are, or where you are headed?

This Mindful Moment provided by Jacob Perkins

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Upcoming Events

Day	Date	Time	Event	Location	Organization
Thursday	10.27.2021	7:24 PM	Weekly Fellowship & Bible Study	Moon Room	Guilford Christian Ministry
Friday	10.28.2021	4:00 – 5:00 PM	Quaker Meeting Worship (QLSP focus but open to all)	Moon Room	Friends Center
Saturday	10.29.2021	10:00 AM – Noon	Free Farmer’s Market	New Garden Park	GCM/Church of the Redeemer
Sunday	10.30.2021	11:00 AM	Informal Episcopal Worship: liturgy, communion, prayers, & hymns. All are welcome.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	11.2.2021	7:00 PM	UKIRK Tuesday	Holderness House	UKIRK Greensboro (PCUSA/ Presbyterian)

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Resources

To find information about the Interfaith Leadership Council, faith leaders who work with students on campus, or to see a full calendar of all campus faith-related events, visit our Multifaith page.

The Friends Center Prayer Room is available to students of all faiths and spiritual journeys. Ideal for prayer, meditation, or reflection, we encourage folks to make use of this space. See our flyer for more information.

To contact Friends Center Director, email danielscw@guilford.edu.

For a variety of self-care resources, visit our Self-Care page.

To provide feedback or suggestions, submissions for artwork or Mindful Moments, or questions about this newsletter, contact perkinsja1@guilford.edu.

---

About Friends Center:

Friends Center is a collaborative project between the Religious Society of Friends and Guilford College. Friends Center is responsible for nurturing Quaker life and renewal on campus, building and sustaining interfaith cooperation on campus, and building relationships with the global Quaker community. To read more about Friends Center, visit the homepage of our website.

Mindful Moment

Finding God in the Present

“Our Identification of God with the past has done the present and the future no favor. Old mistakes are still mistakes, and we do not need to keep repeating them. For much of the world, this preoccupation with the past comes across as a divine approval of everybody else’ death (non-Christians, heretics, Native peoples, “sinners,” women, the poor, slaves, and on and on), and never our own. Many people have lost all interest in our grand spiritual talk and our Scriptures because they too often have been used by people who are themselves still small (who are stuck in their False Self). It does not help to deny that we are stuck, and yet it does not help to stand arrogantly above it all either – as if we do not all share in the one great human crucifixion of reality, the one “world sorrow.” -Richard Rohr

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk to leaders of schools (headmasters, principles, etc). Many of whom are dealing with “the identification of God with the past,” whose own culture and ethos is controlled by a few who are afraid to see what God can do not just tomorrow but today. Self-congratulations, stuckness passed as righteousness, and keeping things familiar and comfortable may feel nice but it will get us nowhere.  Instead, we need a shift in mindset and attitude. What is God doing now? What is God doing around us? How can we wake up and rejoin that work each day with a beginner’s mind? How can we stand still long enough to hear, see, feel the imperceptible among us. To survive, to love, to remain curious, to laugh, to truly listen are all divine acts of today that will help you see God around you.

I love the image of the nurse log. A nurse log is a tree that has fallen in the woods and provides nourishment and protection for new life to grow. Where is God at in this micro-ecosystem of life? God is in the decaying tree providing source material for emergent life. God is in the budding flora. God is in and with the plants, animals, and insects that are yet to come and find life and nourishment in this micro-ecosystem. I hope to be curious enough to see the many ways in which my false self prevents me from seeing God unfolding right in front of me.”

Query: What is God doing now? What is God doing around us? How can we wake up and rejoin that work each day with a beginner’s mind? What helps and what gets in the way of my own curiosity for where God is working now?

This Mindful Moment provided by Wess Daniels

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Upcoming Events

Day	Date	Time	Event	Location	Organization
Thursday	10.21.2021	7:24 PM	Weekly Fellowship & Bible Study	Moon Room	Guilford Christian Ministry
Friday	10.22.2021	1:30 – 2:00 PM	Quaker Meeting Worship	Moon Room	Friends Center
Friday	10.22.2021	4:00 – 5:00 PM	Quaker Meeting Worship (QLSP focus but open to all)	Moon Room	Friends Center
Saturday	10.23.2021	10:00 AM – Noon	Free Farmer’s Market	New Garden Park	GCM/Church of the Redeemer
Sunday	10.24.2021	11:00 AM	Informal Episcopal Worship: liturgy, communion, prayers, & hymns. All are welcome.	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	10.26.2021	7:00 PM	Community Dinner	St. Mary’s House	St. Mary’s House (Episcopal Campus Ministry)
Tuesday	10.26.2021	7:00 PM	UKIRK Tuesday	Holderness House	UKIRK Greensboro (PCUSA/ Presbyterian)

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Resources

To find information about the Interfaith Leadership Council, faith leaders who work with students on campus, or to see a full calendar of all campus faith-related events, visit our Multifaith page.

The Friends Center Prayer Room is available to students of all faiths and spiritual journeys. Ideal for prayer, meditation, or reflection, we encourage folks to make use of this space. See our flyer for more information.

To contact Friends Center Director, email danielscw@guilford.edu.

For a variety of self-care resources, visit our Self-Care page.

To provide feedback or suggestions, submissions for artwork or Mindful Moments, or questions about this newsletter, contact perkinsja1@guilford.edu.

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About Friends Center:

Friends Center is a collaborative project between the Religious Society of Friends and Guilford College. Friends Center is responsible for nurturing Quaker life and renewal on campus, building and sustaining interfaith cooperation on campus, and building relationships with the global Quaker community. To read more about Friends Center, visit the homepage of our website.