— George Fox

How do we find our rhythms and give ourselves resilience this Covid Winter?

 

I’ve been asking myself this question because I was finding myself particularly challenged with the thought of a Covid winter of isolation, while already facing an Ithaca winter of grey. The outdoor tasks my husband and I share—wheelbarrowing loads of firewood, shoveling a long driveway, and slogging through snowdrifts to check chickens—are part of our chosen way of life, but their satisfying qualities tend to diminish with stretched-out bad weather. The added absence of hugs from family or friends seems daunting.

 

As a result I sought to reassure myself with the rhythms of winter.  Of course there are nature’s rhythms: Winter Solstice—around December 21^st—the time the Earth, with its dual revolutions, one daily and the other around the sun, gives us the shortest day of the year. And then there is the Spring Equinox—around March 21^st—which brings these same revolutions to the point of equal days and nights. But I found myself also thinking of more human patterns, so I mapped a few that I know of for the months below:

 

 

These rhythms unite the cyclically diminished sunlight (and the oh, so slowly—too slowly—lengthening days) with human-created traditions that connect us, as individuals, to the universal. These traditions have been created by our ancestors, who faced far worse circumstances than we do (without the options of Zooming and Facebooking ourselves into togetherness) to get themselves through the winter. As the light of winter darkens, holding each other in the light can also be a beacon reflecting down a long history of human resilience and survival.

The next meeting of the Covid Working Group will be January 8th at 4pm via Zoom. Covid Working Group meetings are open to anyone interested. Please ask Carol Clark for Zoom information.

The Library Committee is happy to have received two copies of Yohko Tsuji's Through Japanese Eyes: Thirty Years of Studying Aging in America. They'll be available in the library for folks who want to explore them.

A small group of people from IMM with a concern for anti-racism has met three times in Spirit-led conversation. We will meet again in December. All are invited to join. The group is grounded in the sense that racism is in the water we drink and the air we breathe, and troubles each of us, the Meeting, the Society of Friends, and society generally. We take joy in coming together to talk about hard things. Contact Margaret McCasland for the Zoom information.

The minutes from Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business can be found on the right-side column of our website. The minutes from November are here.

Powell House is a retreat center for New York Yearly Meeting. Workshops continue on-line.

Upcoming offerings include:

For more information, see: https://poho.org/

Perry City Friends Invite us to In-Person MfW

We plan to have the Hector Meetinghouse open for Sunday worship at 10am through December, weather permitting. Should a weather cancellation become necessary, it will be posted here by early evening the preceding Saturday.

Remember to dress warmly, bring a mask and towel or other cloth covering for where you sit, and to sign a Covid-screening sheet in the entryway. Directions to the Hector Meetinghouse are here.

Join Friends to watch a brief QuakerSpeak video and discuss what you watched. This week, we will be watching "My Journey as a Transgender Quaker."

IMM Guys’ Lunch

A time together for Quaker men and people who don’t mind talking to them. Bring your lunch and enjoy fellowship.

Join Friends to watch a brief QuakerSpeak video and discuss what you watched.

Women’s Fellowship is Zooming

Bring your knitting, wear your best sweatpants... or not... and join us for an informal hangout. Hope to see you there!

Women’s Chair Yoga now by Zoom

This long-running group, which met for years at the meetinghouse, now runs on Zoom, making it more accessible than ever. To join in, email <jaihari10@gmail.com> The group is about half Friends and half neighbors, nurturing the Inner Light. No yoga experience required. There is a sliding-scale fee. For more info or questions, Nancy Gabriel, 607-339-7123; ntg2@cornell.edu.