Dear Friends:

 

I have been reading 'Experimental Theology in America: Madame Guyon, Fenelon, and Their Readers' by Patricia A. Ward. In my ongoing exploration of our Quietist Heritage this was recommended to me by a poster here at QuakerQuaker.

 

For those who have an interest in the second period of Quaker history, the period of Quietism, this book offers valuable insights. Ward shows how the continental Quietists were quickly picked up by Quakers, and many…

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Three weeks ago, a reporter from The Washington Post contacted my Meeting. It was his intention to offer us an opportunity to participate in a religion project that would feature the contributions of many religious/faith groups across the city. Believing this to be an excellent opportunity to share our Light with the… Continue

http://kens-hot-dogs.blogspot.com

Greetings, Friends,

I’m very pleased to introduce Chapter 1 of MINDING THE LIGHT: Our Collective Journal, a new publication from West Hills Friends in Portland, Oregon.  

 

Journals were once the most characteristic form of Quaker writing, and we hope through this publication to carry on that tradition, less formally.  We envision the journal as an ever-growing collection of “God stories” from the lives of members and attenders of West Hills Friends in Portland,…

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   The metaphor-producing part of my brain has served up another:

                         Knowing God is like eating an artichoke.

    To begin with, very few people eat artichokes. Anyone could – given an artichoke – but one has to know where to begin.

    An artichoke is a good metaphor for monotheism: it is one thing, but you never eat it whole. Eating…

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Traditionally we call these 'covenants', but there's no distinction that I can see: deals, covenants, treaties, contracts-- all about "We'll do this and You'll do that."

 

There's sort of an implied deal in a sacrifice; we eat some of it, the god eats some of it, and we hope relations will stay friendly, because a god on your side can't hurt, but one who's against you is bad news...

 

But we make a 'covenant' when we'd like to negotiate and make the details…

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