Sky Ranch

I want to prepare you for a somewhat lyrical dreamers' post. One question arose recently, is there any good news, anything good happening in the world? Another question has arisen lately, what should be done with old Quaker villages where the populace is getting older and dwindling? What can be done about the world's children, suffering from lack of community and falling into drugs and despair? What can be done about states that consider taking care of children "socialism" and so remove funding from social programs, and let them starve?

There is a place in the far northwest corner of South Dakota, in Harding County, called the Sky Ranch. To me it's like a model, like Scattergood School. I'd fill the world with Scattergood Schools if I could, but you'll scoff at me, and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Well maybe that's true, and it's true of Sky Ranch too. But both places worked. So to answer the first question, if you want to know something good in the world, pay attention to those people who have saved a life, or two, or three, and kept young wayward teenagers from killing themselves and turned them into productive citizens.

The Sky Ranch used to take wayward boys, and put them on horses, and turn them loose in the rugged western sagebrush country of Harding County. It worked for fifty years. They seemed to even be free of scandal and abuse, although who knows how they treated their horses. They turned kids around. Anyone who grew up there spoke highly of the place.

It closed in 2011. States don't have that kind of money for wayward boys, someone said. It was budget cuts that did it. They didn't do anything wrong, they just couldn't afford to keep it going. There's still a Sky Ranch Foundation. They have something out there besides a large bunkhouse and a commercial kitchen. But I'm not sure exactly what they have.

I was very impressed by Scattergood School. A group of Quakers took in wayward kids, Quaker or not, and gave them a community, and a home, and they thrived. These days they have issues because of course, they would never say no to transgender kids. It's a different world than it used to be, and there's no such thing as "isolated" if you have the internet and there's no such thing as "anything" if you don't. I can't solve all the problems in the world. But I'll tell you something: it doesn't matter, transgender, gay, city, anything, every kid deserves a home and a community. And the fact that not every kid has either is the first problem we should address in this world.

So, the question of what Quakers can do about this situation. We Quakers are smart. We know how to educate kids, and love them, and not use violence. We should use our skills to set up Quaker schools in these places. We can start with the Sky Ranch (if they'll let us). Geography is not a barrier. You set up a beautiful school that saves people's lives, and people will find it, and save themselves. Kids will insist on going there.

My last point is this: We Quakers are small, you might say. We're tapped from supporting good causes around the country. True. But we're also good teachers. And we know non-violent mediating skills. We can pool our resources. And there are a lot of people like Bill Gates and Elon Musk around with billions. It's not too hard to say somebody, look, saving wayward teens is the most important thing we can do with our time and money.

Sky Ranch may not be the place; they may have other ideas. When I was looking into the place I got online and took a little virtual tour. I was impressed by the wide-openness of it, the scarcity of people, the sky even though I couldn't see it. I will see it someday; I inherited a tiny speck of land bound up in a group and, if possible, I could extract myself from it and get a thousand bucks or so. That makes it worth the trip already. But South Dakota is quite beautiful, especially Harding County. I guarantee it. A little ranch out there would get along with everybody, and would save lots of kids.

It wouldn't have to be the only one.

To all-a-y'all, out there

I just want to take a moment to remember all of the people who have passed by over the years - some for only a meeting or two, some for as many as a year or two. I think that spiritual longing is the desire and need to connect with others of relatively the same religious orientation as yourself - and therefore I'm not too surprised if people move along from a small group of admittedly radical Quakers who, let's face it, have more in common in their political leanings than we have in our specific theology. we don't actually talk theology that much. Sometimes we have little in the way of active using the speaking from the silence to minister to each other.

Quakers tend to be so busy being activists in their daily lives that they welcome a half-hour of silent minutes clicked together, or in the case of larger in-person meetings, up to 59 or 60 minutes of pure silence. I find myself explaining by chat that we are silent the first half, and sometimes people click off, disappear, before that 30 minutes is even over. Usually, if they make it to the second half, we ask them if they have any experience with Quakerism and we have time for some friendly getting-to-know-each other. Still in the end I may not know as much about people's personal lives as I would if I walked into a church and just started visiting with everyone at the potluck brunch. Online leaves a few things to be desired and one is the excellent vegan food of a good Quaker potluck.

To all the varied and widespread people who have visited us over the years, I hope you are out there thinking of Quakers as sincere, well-meaning people who care about you from afar. That's really the best we can be, as you don't really want to get too involved in whatever we are doing here on the ground. I believe in community but this is where a virtual meeting really differs from a live one. In a live one you can simply go over to someone's house and minister to them, if they are sick, need a listening ear, or need to work something out. We've never had that luxury. Our members are in various states of distress and there's not much we can do about it.

I have just a few examples. One is a guy from England, who you'll recognize pretty quickly since we don't have too many from England. For one thing he had to wait until two or three in the morning to join us, but he did; he attended regularly. he had problems bad enough that he was forced to lose his autonomy and was hospitalized - and what could we do? At one point we wrote him letters or emails of support and that actually made some difference in the way he was seen and treated in his hospital situation. We still send him greetings and send our love. But what do we know, or what can we do? From over here we are in a virtual community yet it's basically nothing. He might be better served by a community that can actually visit him.

Yet in this world, many of us are in positions where our neighbors can visit us, yet don't really share the essence of Quakerism like we can. We do have a lot in common. And we are here, if you stop by to visit us, and we'll support you, in whatever form, in your quest to express and live out the life of peace and non-violence. I think there has to be a support system for people trying to make non-violence (especially spiritual non-violence) central to their daily lives.

Thank you for joining us, whenever it was, however long it was. We will still be here. Please come back and say hello!

Active peacemaking

I've been all too quiet on this blog. It's not turning out to be an active collaborative give-and-take hub of Quaker thought and discussion, but rather a place where I occasionally implore people (you) to come join us and make one Quaker meeting see if it can make a difference.

I have always said that if you can keep one Quaker meeting alive, you have at least demonstrated a commitment to peace and justice through your very presence. Actually I would say that to everyone anywhere geographically, just go find one or start one and if you can't do that, join us or make one online. The world needs people who care more about peace than about the things they are killing each other over, and we peacemakers need to be organized enough to actively propagate the tools of peace and the insistence that peace is what's best for all of us, all the time.

We spend considerable time fretting about the various wars, in particular Israel-Gaza, and its victims, who will live with generations of terrorism and bad will because of inability of anyone to take a strong step between the two sides, rattle their cage, and get them to do the right thing for their people. I have no more sympathy for Hamas, who hides its hostages in hospitals and schools, than for Israel, which gets all thhe most modern guns and weapons to aim at those hospitals and schools, and says, your fault, you're killing your own people. Both sides are killing their own people. But enough of my rant. Where are the peacemakers? The ones who are trained to step between warring parties and change things?

In a Quaker meeting you can find people who are actively solving problems, whether we're talking homelessness, war, family disputes, whatever. That's why I say, go find one, or go make one. Blessed be the peacemakers. Don't waste your time on earth, or back off from conflict like I often do, unsure what the heck anyone can do about these confounded situations. Someone has to do something. ust letting them fester, or go on for years and years, clearly isn't the answer.

Peace in the New Year

I put my feeling about illuminaria (below) here, but the most important thing to say is, it's not really Quakerly, nor is it related to Cloud Quakers in any way. It's just me, in my house, saying I'm here, bring in the light, bring in the blessings of the new year. The world seems overwhelming these days. Israel is militant about killing as many Palestinians as possible, and Palestinians, even in the West Bank, are more supportive of Hamas than ever. And do you think the Russians and Ukrainians will ever just lay down their guns? I doubt it.

I try to envision what militant peacemaking might look like in today's world, when I feel more like a "slactivist," one who professes peace yet mostly just sits here in my chair. Yes I am NOT taking up guns, NOT shooting my neighbor, even feeding the hungry and doing my part to alleviate some of the divisions and strife in today's small town Illinois. But what is one supposed to do about Russia or Israel? I have no idea. To some, the answer is "don't vote for Biden." But to me, that's beginning to sound like "let Trump give all the guns to Russia instead of Ukraine."

One side of it says, pure force is the only answer. Israel must bulldoze Gaza until they wipe out the tunnels; Russia will use its superior force to get what it wants eventually unless we are in there with our superior force; China's invasion of Taiwan is almost a certainty. Where is the UN in all this? The UN is an illusion. Putting our hopes or our force into the UN seems to be somewhat pointless.

Calling on the US to have a less power-based foreign policy seems to have some hope, but I think someone should be able to spell out exactly what this would look like. The AFSC is there for that purpose, and still funded to some degree by American Quakers, but I'm not sure exactly what they've been doing, much less have any clue what I would have them do if I were working for them. They I think became somewhat pro-Palestinian over the years, but these days anyone who criticises Israel's bulldoze-and-kill-the-children war is considered "antisemitic." The evangelist-Trump alliance is probably Israel's best friend, as there's no question that most of the money used in the brutal bombing and starving of Palestinians has come from us and backed by a pro-Israel bloc that is easily a majority. Is the killing of a million or so Palestinians different from the starving and gassing of millions of Jews in World War II? Well, yes, in some ways. But it's still killing, and I'm opposed to it. Succesful militant peacemaking at this point could save millions of lives. But Egypt's plan doesn't seem to be doing it for either side.

In my chair, I'm opposed to all these wars. I have no idea what to do about it, so call me a slactivist. And this is my own opinion by the way, call me antisemitic if you want, but I'm just Tom Leverett, wishing you a Happy New Year here from Galesburg Illinois, and hoping for peace in the new year. Your comments are welcome.

More Quakers on Zoom

Thee Quaker Podcast
Quakers and Zoom: How Videoconferencing Came to Quaker Worship and Whether It’s Here to Stay https://quakerpodcast.com/quakers-and-zoom/?fbclid=IwAR1adH3b_9k8q3wgEvvepXlnEpy0DT8wTBgznRklMFW3WUMLvyOBYNByltM

Listen for yourself (my hearing's bad) - let's remind them that Cloud Quakers was here first, has been here since before the pandemic, and whatever goods and bads there are with zoom gathering, we have experienced it.

It's kind of fun to find new sites, and notice that Quakers are at least getting out there online now. But remember zoom online meetings mean that everyone, everywhere, can connect to Quakerism if they are so inclined.

And as well, you are welcome to join us any time. See the template (side of blog) for details.

Friends Journal does Virtual Meetings

https://www.friendsjournal.org/podcast/episode-5-virtual-communities/?fbclid=IwAR33b8XfEcdwhkyE84ME8JYFbNxnifL-4n-EOwaNyEylZgzBIjjDWEsBBFg

Quinn forwarded this link to me; I haven't had time to digest it thorughly. Apparently it starts with a podcast on this page. My hearing is not that great, so I'm not in the habit of getting information from podcasts. It's interesting, though, and it addresses an issue close to our hearts: how can we make our virtual meetings better?

I must say, we've been working on it. We have a lot to say about it. We've been trying for years now; we've been here since before the pandemic. We should be able to speak to the issue.

I'm not sure how well the comments function on this blog, but I encourage you to give it a try. Better yet, come visit our meeting and give us a piece of your mind.

You can find the details on Facebook if not on this very blog.