Dorothy "Dot" Brown Giessler

Dorothy Giessler was a beloved and wonderful woman to many of us. Her legacy of generosity still ripples throughout both community and generations. If you'd like to post a memory, we would love to hear your thoughts.

Dorothy Brown Giessler was born in Chicago, IL, on September 5, 1930, and lived in Evanston through her college years. She graduated from Dension University, OH, with a degree in Citizenship (with an emphasis on family life and community leadership), after a semester at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), VA, where she was among the first white students at this originally black university. She remained active in Hampton University's alumni gatherings until very recently.

On December 20, 1952, Dot married Hali H. Giessler, social worker and educator. The first year of their marriage, they co-directed a work camp for the American Friends Service Committee in Indianapolis, IN. Then they spent a year teaching in a small Quaker school in Friendsville, TN. Their next venture was in Reading, PA, where Dot directed a home for delinquent girls and where Hali directed a settlement house and then worked as a juvenile probation officer. Their two daughters were born in West Reading: Donna Giessler Latus and Helen Giessler Grundman. When they moved to Hershey, PA, Dot worked as a substitute teacher at Milton Hershey School, where Hali served as Director of Home Life and Director of Family-School Relations.

In 1965 the Giesslers moved to Michigan to help found the Friends School in Detroit, where Hali was Headmaster for eight years. Dot did volunteer work, at the school and on behalf of welfare recipients. She served several years as Clerk of the Detroit Friends Meeting (Quakers) and many years as a member of the Ministry & Counsel and Religious Education Committees. In 1977 she wrote and published Songs for Quakers, 52 original poems (recounting Quaker history) set to music of her own composition. She was also an active member of the Women's Alliance of the First Unitarian-Universalist Church in Detroit.

When Hali became Executive Director of the Center for Urban Education (CUE), Dot took on full-time work as a caseworker at Macomb County Community Mental Health Services. Then she started a long career as a substitute teacher in the Head Start Program. Using her singing skills and her ability to play nearly anything and everything on the accordion Hali had brought over from Germany (1939), she entertained in nursing homes, hospitals, schools, and churches. She recycled clothing and other items, proofread for various organizations, and wrote countless letters to family, friends, and legislators. She was deeply committed to her parents, caring for them and managing their affairs.

Dot was married to Hali for 57 years. She adored her grandchildren, Karen and John Latus. She loved opening her home to family and large groups of Friends and other friends. When she and Hali were no longer able to offer hospitality with ease, they were delighted to be able to move to Henry Ford Village, where Dot continued her dedication to family life, social justice, nonviolence, and service to others. Dot's battle with illness ended on January 7, 2010. Dot's love and influence remain.

Concerning God as our Center

Excerpt from "Freedom of Simplicity," by Richard J. Foster, pp. 94-95

I hope you understand what I mean when I speak of living out of the Center. I am of course referring to God, but I do not mean God in an abstract, theoretical sense, nor even God in the sense of the One to be feared and revered. Nor do I mean God only in the sense of One to be loved and obeyed. For years I loved God and sought to obey him, but he remained on the periphery of my life. God and Christ were extremely important to me but certainly not the Center. After all, I had many tasks and aspirations that did not relate to God in the least. What, for heaven's sake, did swimming and gardening have to do with God? I was deeply committed, but I was not integrated or unified. I thought that serving God was another duty to be added to an already busy schedule.

But slowly I came to see that God desired to be not on the outskirts, but at the heart of my experience. Gardening was no longer an experience outside of my relationship with God - I discovered God in my gardening. Swimming was no longer just good exercise - it became an opportunity for communion with God. God in Christ had become the Center.

Church Cliques

I see a lot of hits on my brief article on church cliques.
What are some of your experiences with these? Would you like to hear some advice on your issue?

What's your story?

Many people leave their churches or are pushed out of them.
I hope you'll consider sharing your story here, so we might all learn from it.

Dechurched: Our hidden beliefs

Excerpt from "The Church and the Dechurched" by Mary Tuomi Hammond, pp 46-47

Persons dechurched through abuse at the hands of Christian institutions or professing believers often experience four "rules" of the dysfunctional family, whether in their church families, denominations or families of origin. These four rules - don't think, don't feel, don't talk and don't trust - are subtle messages designed to silence the individual in question.

The admonition Don't think stifles a child's development of original and independent thought apart from the thought of adult authority figures in his or her life. Judgments, ideas, and questions are buried deep within the self unless these views agree with those of the dominant adult. The child learns to placate authority by avoiding conflict.

For a while, this pattern enhances feelings of personal safety; in fact, it is deceptive. The game plan becomes one of keeping the peace at any price. A child who masters the don't think rule develops a facility in conforming outwardly to the ideas and opinions of others while repressing his or her genuine thoughts. Thus, the child never fully experiences the true self. Instead, the "split self" becomes the norm, with one set of thoughts being hidden from public view and another more accepted perspective being presented to others.
_____________________________
Ms. Hammond makes a case that we create a false fiction of safety by trying to keep peace at any price.

What do you think happens when people are not allowed to be honest with their beliefs with church friends?