One hundred and seventy-eight Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting Friends and visitors gathered July 30 through August 3, 2003 on the campus of Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, for our 183rd annual sessions. Reflecting on the words of George Fox, we spent our time together exploring what it means to "Be Patterns: living in the life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars."

The words of Christ, as set forth in the book of John, inspired us -- “For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” We challenged ourselves in business sessions, worship sharing, and workshops to ask how God calls us to be patterns in a world suffering from "envy and selfish ambition, ... disorder and every evil practice." These words and others from the Epistle of James give us insight into the causes of war and fightings among us and cause us to yearn for the "wisdom that comes from heaven" to be peace-loving and full of mercy. We carry this yearning into our most immediate concerns and call for an end to our country's current occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan in a minute urging the rapid restoration of self-government to these nations. The minute is attached to this epistle.

Bob Schmitt of Northern Yearly Meeting brought a powerful sense of the presence of the Lord in his plenary session. Bob called us to bring our love to the world and not just to focus on concerns of the day. He described his attempts to reach his own center as chipping away at the lump of coal inside him until he could find a small diamond, then holding that diamond up so that the light filled the whole room. He reminded us of the experience of Friends crying in the wilderness, like John Woolman who waited seven years to get his essay on slavery published by his Yearly Meeting, and enjoined us to be more tender to the unusual leadings in our midst. We are effective at attracting others by our warmth, but we need those who stoke the fire within our meetings. He reminded us that Jesus' confidence in his disciples, even those who were weak, provides an example for us that reliance on others in our meetings shows our love to the world.

Our many and varied workshops and interest groups offered spiritual grounding and reflected the wide-range of social problems confronting us. Racism, simplicity and sustainability, affordable health care, third-world development and outreach to the poor have all claimed our attention. We struggle to be the pattern for changes we know are called for in so many areas of need, and we are sustained in the struggle by the knowledge that God has called us to this work.

We have enjoyed the fellowship of Friends, the stimulation of new ideas, and the awareness that God is moving among us. Our talented musicians have entertained us with songs that carried the message of peace and love, and we have refreshed our spirits in play and song. Our children have been a source of pleasure as they grow in their understanding of the world. At the close of this Yearly Meeting we feel greatly strengthened in our ability to be patterns and to show our love to the world.