Morning Prayers with Oatmeal and a Pop Quiz

RantWoman, first PRAY

 

Then, since a neighbor is just getting home, wish Eritrean neighbors across the hall a Blessed Ramadan, #ramadanMubarak. Do not forget the oatmeal!

 

Oatmeal? Neighbors are 4 generations in a 2-bedroom apartment. The youngest mom and baby get WIC but WIC is not necessarily food they eat. So RantWoman asked what would be a good replacement for the food they want to give RantWoman. Oatmeal! And especially during Ramadan. Done! Blessings!

 

Now pray again

 THEN plan how to pen an admonishment and exhortation NOT to drive anyone’s SOV’s to a bill signing about environmental measures that just passed the legislature. There will be NO place to park. Bus and Light Rail are awesome connections for anyone who can walk 2-4 blocks on decent sidewalk. If someone is really hip and trendy download the new Via app, and see if you can ride from the Columbia City light rail to the event. Leave a comment to tell RantWoman your experience. #waleg

 

 

Pray AGAIN

Now wax rhapsodic about HEADINGS IN the news letter. TRY To resist the temptation though to grab the item about consent culture: Gravity is not consensual. DNA lotto is not consensual. Creeping decrepitude is not consensual. NOW WHAT?

 

Pray AGAIN

Over matters of minutes and what is or is not in minutes and how event sequences look to RantWoman. An acknowledgment in draft minutes that Madame Recording Clerk was unclear what to do matters. It matters because the acknowledgment contained the words “important to (RantWoman). Finally the FACT of nominating committee declaring matters to do with disability off topic is in minutes. That is good news and bad news but it is a SMALL step forward from “look how nice we are being to RantWoman” with no mention of blatant ableism in several forms and only “RantWoman spoke at length” and not a dang thing about what RantWoman said. More words due in their own post.

 

Pray AGAIN

Last night RantWoman was doing brainless activity trying to soothe her soul enough to corral needed words. RantWoman was responding to a request for old electronic copies of the newsletter, searching a year at a time in her email archives. RantWoman finds herself VERY sad about many email addresses whose people she is not seeing right now. RantWoman thinks there are some pray together across differences issues. RantWoman also hates a sense of either/ or rather than both /and. Further crabbiness available about Friends older / younger than 60. Please hold in the Light along with what Quakers have to offer the world today.

 

Pray AGAIN

The term of art for travel that combines many stops not just commuting is “trip chaining.” It is more often done by women and is poorly reflected in the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and therefore women’s work is not in the data. And we will also not talk about the “not in data” problem of pedestrian travel in many data streams. This Not in data problem can make a person crazy and rantwoman has been sitting with that on top of a campus discernment committee full of people who in RantWoman’s experience define problems more narrowly than RantWoman does. RantWoman does NOT apologize for having these concerns. RantWoman does very much apologize for the extremely aggravating way she tried to communicate about her concerns with the process.  RantWoman is doing prayers rather than deal with some email germane to changes around Meeting, but RantWoman would VERY much like to get to better communication with some key people.

 

 

Pray Again!

RantWoman has been sitting with a request about special treatment when other people include one Friend in email to Rantwoman and RantWoman is led to do reply/all. RantWoman gets that this request to delete the Friend in question is really, really, really, really important to this Friend. As a practical reality this request is very difficult for RantWoman and RantWoman gets to cope all the time with things that are really really really important to her that other people completely disregard. RantWoman thinks having to cope promotes spiritual growth and RantWoman is not finding herself called to deprive the requesting Friend of the same opportunity for spiritual growth. So please hold the whole soap opera in the Light.

 

 

Then PRAY AGAIN

RantWoman has been seasoning how lovingly to tell people near and dear to her that she will go where God tells her to, that if Friends can think BRAVE SPACE instead of just “safe space” really really people, God is telling RantWoman, can cope.

 

By “Go,” RantWoman does not necessarily mean GO in the sense used here.

https://rantwomanrsof.blogspot.com/2019/04/pesach-passed-on.html

 

Pop quiz:

what principle(s) of the ADA apply here?

 

What might Friends advise others in this person’s community about concepts such as allyship or spiritual accompaniment?

 

Since Facebook generously shows RantWoman the names of a number of Friends with Jewish connections, what might Friends advise as far as places to turn for help?

 

What Twitter hashtags can be used to find plenty more stories just like this or worse?

 

In Light and Faithfulness

 

RantWoman

Honest questions round 2

RantWoman writes here after a phone conversation about the guidelines for the UFM Email list. RantWoman does not know what to do with the information she heard as “you were the only one who objected so we did not care about your objections.”

 

RantWoman guesses she is supposed to be grateful to have that information now, but RantWoman has decided to post to her blog in her own words because she does not feel like relying on any single voice to filter / convey what is bothering her and come to a better formulation and because the whole topic needs to be held in the Light so that progress can perhaps be made.

 

RantWoman has been off the email list for awhile and RantWoman is finding herself feeling peeved, resentful on numerous grounds and bullied. RantWoman initially promised to suggest SMALL edits. RantWoman WAS hoping that small edits would do the trick. RantWoman needs greater light than small edits but cutting down the number of ways RantWoman feels bullied could improve MANY things.

 

 

UFM Email List Guidelines.pdf

UFM Email List Guidelines

November, 2016

University Friends Meeting

Email List Guidelines

By posting to UniversityFriendsMeeting@googlegroups.com, you are agreeing to follow these guidelines:

1. Announcements ONLY

The email list is for announcements that are relevant to the UFM community. For  example: activities sponsored by UFM committees or other Quaker organizations;  joys or concerns of members and attenders (this could include personal needs, such  as looking for/offering employment, rides, etc); and other events groups, activities, or events that are consistent with our Quaker testimonies.

This is not a forum for discussion. It is, however, appropriate to share an item or  topic that you would like Friends to discuss and indicate how those interested in  doing so can continue the discussion (i.e. by emailing you directly or gathering after  the rise of meeting).

 

2. No “Reply All”

Unless you have a vital clarification or addition to make to the original announcement, reply only to the individual sending the announcement, not the entire email list.

RantWoman would like to suggest:

Please use Reply/all VERY judiciously, only for vital clarifications or additions to a post, or for matters of community interest such as shared memories of someone who has passed away or updates about someone’s situation.

RantWoman is on the email list for another Meeting. RantWoman particularly appreciates reply/all when the email thread is shared remembrances about someone who has died or is going through some kind of medical event.  Sometimes the memories themselves and the network of people remembering someone are very meaningful to RantWoman even if the memories and connections date from long before there was any such thing as Google groups.

RantWoman has also found helpful threads about where people are meeting for events such as marches. Here RantWoman appreciates the point that one set of posts generated a response that addressed some of RantWoman’s concerns for that instance but not in general.

 

3. No Forwarding Announcements from this list without Approval

Please forward an announcement only with the approval of the person or group that sent it to you. It is best to remove the names and email addresses from the original announcement, unless you know that the sender intends otherwise.

RantWoman GREATLY appreciates even the limited info about community life she is receiving from the person who has been ignoring this rule. RantWoman’s appreciation is why she is clear to try again about refining guidelines and rejoining the list.RantWoman is also seeking to rejoin the list under her own name even though other options have also occurred to her.

RantWoman is very relieved that her conversation partner finally got that there are SOME situations for example where someone particularly a child may be in danger where forwarding without permission would absolutely be appropriate and RantWoman is not just being obstreperous by openly refusing to agree to a document she knows might need to be violated. RantWoman thinks it would be valuable to have some community conversation about to whom one might suggest forwarding something problematic and some kind of gentle wording about members of a faith community looking after posts that raise concerns.

 

4. No Other Recipients

Do not include any other individuals or groups in the “To” field of your email. Doing so would violate their privacy.

RantWoman can live with this one but she does not understand it. Some in RantWoman’s circles probably would consider inclusion in a To list a violation of their privacy but many others would not. Rantwoman also regularly gets email that includes lists she is not on, people she does not know. RantWoman finds out when she does Reply/all what bounces.

 

5. Content Must Be Appropriate

Messages should be as brief as possible, and your language must be respectful and courteous.

Do not promote particular political candidates or partisan groups.

Please minimize the number of email headers from forwarded messages.

6. No Large Attachments

Do not attach files greater than 1 MB.

7. Managing Message Flow: Thee guidelines are intended to help Friends avoid email overload but this list and different email systems offer a number of additional options for managing and sorting messages. These can be helpful and are worth learning about.

This email list is not moderated, but repeated violations of these guidelines could result in the violator being removed from the group.

There is a brand new update to Google groups effective today. RantWoman has not read thoroughly enough to see whether there is any kind of user level setting that would allow people to read but not post. RantWoman may update this post with info about that.

Please direct any questions or concerns about these guidelines to

 

[please leave a comment here because RantWoman did not seek the list creator’s permission to use her address in this post.]

Leading Tested

Anatomy of a Leading, plus or minus Pipe Organ

RantWoman, how do you know... was from God and not from your ego?

Umm, if I am supposed to love my neighbor as myself then I am supposed to love myself so what is the difference between my ego and God?

 

Seriously, RantWoman tests leading various ways, sometimes with conversations or email, sometimes with gut checks. RantWoman is surprised sometimes by how her gut checks get validated. That was definitely the case for this moment, also referenced here

https://rantwomanrsof.blogspot.com/2019/04/palm-sunday-minus-pipe-organ-after.html

https://rantwomanrsof.blogspot.com/2019/04/metaphors-maundy-thursday-charoset-ice.html

 

By validated, RantWoman means, among other things:

 

--How does RantWoman’s body feel? Does breath flow easily? If there is something discomfiting is RantWoman still physically calm?

 

--Does RantWoman collect information she had no way of knowing in advance would come her way?

Here, Yes and Yes.

 

Recently RantWoman needed to test which of two First Day choices she was called to, go to Adult Religious Education at her Meeting and then deal with the issue of Business Meeting requests or go appreciate pipe organ (and Powerpoint!?!   In worship, oh well) at a large faith community where RantWoman has family connections. Alert readers can probably figure out which faith community RantWoman is referring to, but RantWoman needs for a number of reasons to be elliptical.

 

Get off bus. Go west toward Meeting or North. North by a clear gut check.

 

Arrive at house of worship. Early service with pipe organ is just getting out.

Find a bench. Text Little Sister about rendezvous. Attend from the bench to flows of the faithful. Observe conversation: someone trying to help someone with complicated situation who may or may not be able to follow through.

 

Observe streams of visitors. Collect text from Little Sister: does Rantwoman want to go to the contemporary service? No, not really. Open to pipe organ at 11 though. Little Sister suggests RantWoman visit large gathering room where there is coffee, where irrepressible Nephew is hard at work. Nephew has just gotten back from a housebuilding trip to Mexico; happily the trip occurred despite threats of even more extreme border silliness from The Orange One.

 

Find large gathering room. Find some scrambled eggs, fruit coffee. Read a few days of devotionals from the large print guide RantMom always gifts. Collect joyous hug when Nephew spots RantWoman. Finish eggs and coffee. Make mental note to learn more about big homelessness ministry. Take note of the off-duty police officer.

 

Decision time: ”Pipe organ or….

 

Body tenses at thought of a whole hour of worship that is like a slightly ill-fitting pair of high-wquality shoes. A fit for someone else but not RantWoman.

Or! Rantwoman finds elevator and walks. Kinks fall out of body. Lungs fill with air.

Eyes drink in spring green.

 

RantWoman nears meeting. The pinks and yellows of the plantings fill RantWoman’s soul.

Gut check: yeah, gut is there. Give things to God. Breathe easier.

Meeting for business has already started.

 

RantWoman finds a chair, sits, holds proceedings in the Light.

 

RantWoman notes a couple she cannot identify leaving. RantWoman considers running after to ask why they leave. RantWoman thinks someone else also left.

 

RantWoman greets another visitor she has previously met.

 

RantWoman observes an incident and followup conversation related to an obviously homeless person. RantWoman makes mental note to think about further steps.

 

20-something Friend emerges from Worship room and suggests that RantWoman is not supposed to be there.

 

RantWoman suggests that Friend needs to give the problem to God.

 

Young Friend feels need to go back to Worship room and spread the alarm: RantWoman is here! RantWoman is here!

 

Then young Friend finds visitor who had asked for him and stomps out. RantWoman thinks there also were tears.

 

Distressed Friends emerge and desparately want RantWoman to go sit in library. Library was already occupied by Chattery Friend not RantWoman’s first choice to hang with. Two Friends join RantWoman and interesting useful conversation starts to occur until flow shifts to domination by Chattery Friend. Guess which gender. RantWoman means to talk about New Attender cards. RantWoman collects data: Meeting just approved membership for someone whose long ago new attender card one of the conversation Friends recently found unaddressed in an old notebook. Okay. Save new attender cards for another conversation !

 

Also collect data on who is speaking against RantWoman appearing in Business meeting. Turns out the following week RantWoman will owe said Friend a thank you. Said Friend KNOWS and has had multiple requests to email RantWoman the Adult Ed handouts AHEAD of the event. This occurs VERY unevenly. In the most recent case, RantWoman received the handout and resource list AFTER the event. RantWoman supposes she is grateful for the resource digestion service and grateful for some video links. Actually, RantWoman needs to pen a strand of thoughts in another post.

 

But imagine if the info got emailed or publicized more broadly in advance of Adult education. Just imagine. Could Friends make people feel welcome????

 

What RantWoman is stuck on: Said Friend was clerk of Worship and Ministry a number of years ago when RantWoman decided pastoral care committees needed to observe Disabilities Awareness Month. Said Friend despite clerk role asked to be taken off the email list. Um, no. And NO, Rantwoman STILL will not be silenced. RantWoman is trying to decide whether to be grateful for this reminder.

 

NO RantWoman does not want to go have coffee with Said Friend to talk about this. RantWoman has no idea what conversation would help and RantWoman is seasoning a need to elaborate further about a related thread of life. RantWoman SO would not mind different data to collect!

Fractal tactile Bliss part n+1

Has RantWoman mentioned in like the last 10 minutes how much she loves fractals?


Not every psychedelic overabundance of fractal color will make good tactile graphics but...

Pizza, reheated

Sometimes there is no substitute for reheated pizza: all carmelized crust and burn your mouth bubbles in the microwaved fat. And reheated pizza for breakfast…! Just Wow!

RantWoman has been called to review a couple email threads and conversations related to the now infamous pizza message memorialized here

https://rantwomanrsof.blogspot.com/2019/02/ministry-seasoned-with-pizza.html

From one conversation: "Oh my committee has a handle on it (the message)."

RantWoman to herself "NO you don’t because you have not even thought to ask RantWoman what all is on her mind." (Nor have you responded to RantWoman’s question about whether you might ever have received the kind of training one gets for some kinds of social service or homeless or domestic violence shelter roles.) So RantWoman is seasoning thoughts to just let God handle it anyway because that will be better than asking … of you.

RantWoman is grateful to learn a number of things from another member of that committee:

--RantWoman was not the only person disquieted.

--Conversations continue.

RantWoman now considers both the message and the followup simply data. Alas, RantWoman sometimes collects data she wishes were otherwise. That applies at multiple points here.

Somewhere in the email thread, one Friend expressed the point that it might not be reasonable to ask about a ministry and further that one is just supposed to receive the ministry as is. RantWoman MIGHT add decide whether it is for one and let it settle with ripples into the well of silence or some darn thing.

Huh? RantWoman’s question included acknowledgment that she herself has varying experiences of remembering a ministry after it has been delivered but that she was clear to ask anyway.

Believe it or not, RantWoman had been considering just letting the ministry float by but was grateful for a response in the thread that said both that the sender also found the message and the response disquieting and yes, in that Friend’s experiences, discussion of a message sometimes ripples long past the moment of its first delivery.

Another moment in the thread responding to RantWoman’s initial question: the term "Politically correct."

Huh? RantWoman thinks the sender missed the point of what RantWoman wrote. RantWoman cannot find anything in her original message that in RantWoman’s understanding might have wandered toward politically correct. So RantWoman wrote an email back inviting the Friend to say more. Um, no, not so far.

RantWoman authored one email suggesting that one Friend needs to apologize for what RantWoman considers incredibly insensitive and silencing response to RantWoman’s honest questions. Rantwoman further opined that she hopes no one else ever has to deal with that level of insensitivity when trying to ask an honest question. Recently RantWoman asked the recipient of this email in person whether the Friend had any response to RantWoman’s request. Not so far. As in, RantWoman has the impression the friend has not read RantWoman’s request.

Problematic but not pizza.

Email from another Friend to RantWoman "…problematic…"

RantWoman in response: "Problematic? I’ll say!..and if RantWoman were relying only on thoughtful timely responsive emails from you, Friend, RantWoman would have run away screaming a long time ago.

In other words, the whole telenovela needs to be held in the Light. RantWoman would also suggest perhaps that being open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit would be a more fruitful path than "accept eldering because the would-be elders are doing the best they can."

Also please bear with RantWoman if it just appears that much has just gotten too near RantWoman’s own inner blowtorch.

In Light and faithfulness

RantWoman

 

Afternoon popcorn all fiber and crunch lightly salted

 

What is getting read?

RantWoman from time to time looks at stats for her blog. Today looking at monthly counts, besides items actually posted in the last month, this item has 34 hts
http://rantwomanrsof.blogspot.com/2010/02/hot-fresh-compost.html
RantWoman is curious: who is reading. What rises? Do readers have any questions? RantWoman is struck by the point that she herself is in a number of places completely unsure what she was talking about at the time.

But various notes:
RantWoman never did get a support committee for her blog. At this point, RantWoman gets to live with her own choices about content. If nothing else, think of the blog as a perpetual prayer.

Considering that RantWoman's email currently abounds with people in serious need of prayer, think of the blog as test bed. RantWoman is TRYING to filter some tendency toward hyperbole, also some seriously awkward passive aggressive stuff she is still trying to outgrow. In other words, fun guaranteed all around.

Technology: RantWoman now owns a number of forms of technology to expand her ability to access content in all kinds of ways provided RantWoman remembers each device's unique sets of commands, swipes, and quirks. RantWoman can now theoretically go to any branch of the Seattle Public Library and find at least one Windows computer with several accessibility tools including the ones RantWoman uses and others RantWoman knows are important to other people.
RantWoman is also struck by the shrubbery moment. The shrubbery moment has an email backstory. Owner of shrubbery at one point wrote RantWoman and email something like "you did not have to sic a social worker on me but thanks. This would be only one of many moments where RantWoman grows tired of people who do not get it, who RantWoman wishes would recognize something insightful and important.

 

And in other Popcorn Kernel contributions to the day:

Eliza Skinner is a comedian (@elizaskinner) tweeted at 2:55 AM on Wed, May
01, 2019:
Anxiety: hey are you awake?
Me:...
Anxiety: ARE YOU AWAKE?
Me: I am now.
Anxiety: SOMETHING IS REALLY BAD.
Me: Oh no - what is it?
Anxiety: I DONT KNOW.
Me:...
Anxiety: I CAN START LISTING POSSIBILITIES.
Me: No, that’s ok
Anxiety: TOO LATE, HERE WE GO!
Comments ran heavily toward "I can relate."
More than one person has suggested the word anxiety is on point around RantWoman.
Who? What? I mean besides endless pedestrian bus interaction with the built environment....
Earth to RantWoman, BREATHE. No, no one is going to prescribe RantMOM valium on your behalf. It doesn't work that way. And by the way, about sleep....

Meanderings of Spirit

The meanderings of the Holy Spirit as of last First Day in spring light and green andSUN

 

Adult Religious Education

 

“I like to read up on policy before I make up my mind…”

 

RantWoman to herself: “Friend you just got done hearing three intelligent women tell you about a specific policy idea discerned by wise Friends probably knowledgable of many considerations. Read up if you must but …

 

RantWoman to the room “…(what these women were talking about…part of a very important initiative….”

 

 

Greetings in coffee hour:

One longtime member who has retired far enough away not to get to meeting very often.

 

One of RantWoman’s Quaker college housemates. RantWoman in college met a number of Quakers, but the Quaker Meeting was far away with bad transit connections and a weird walk which RantWoman did explore once but not on a First day.  RantWoman neither tried to go to worship on her own nor asked a different  housemate who did try to go about ride options. Housemate seemed genuinely glad to see RantWoman and RantWoman likewise though neither side lingered long lest the you think RantWoman is insufferable NOW even more insufferable collegiate RantWoman showed up..

 

 

Meeting for Worship.

 

ONE, count it only ONE message in 11:00 worship: something from Corinthians (?) about be perplexed but not depressed.

 

Maybe RantWoman will look up the precise citation. Maybe what was said is more than sufficient.

 

 

Great moments in Potluckery and withCleanup

 

1.       RantWoman MISSES Friend with the ministry of Audible Eye Rolling, now on at least hiatus after…. Why? Eye Roller Friend usually set up the tables for potluck during the beginning of 11:00 worship. This week for various reasons, the end of worship brought out several hands to move tables back and forth many directions at once. RantWoman had to make herself just chill and Stay Out of the Way of chaos and large objects

 

2.       RantWoman has been seeking very distilled commentary about how Passover is observed over the different days. RantWoman opted to ask Walking Encyclopedia Friend. RantWoman did not really get to much nuance about the different days, but RantWoman DID get that Passover SEASON now stretches 40 days until what Christians call Pentecost. New increments of perplexity. Same old residue of plagues?

 

3.       Materials science, aka Hospitality = Pastoral Care plus knives and hot liquids chapter n+1, aka Dishwashing. Baptism for Newcomers. No Newcomers this time. Starring Friend 1, Friend 2, Friend 3 and RantWoman, few enough and large enough bodies that RantWoman was willing even to attempt dishwashing duty. Friends 1 and 2 “Get that away from the dishwasher. It will melt” “No it won’t. It’s rated up to 400 degrees.” Friends 1 and 2 exit. Friend 3 chuckles. RantWoman: THANK YOU for laughing.