A Response to Madeline Schaefer from a Quaker Mystic

First, I appreciate the willingness to both name and discuss the division between the Mystics and the Activists in the Quaker Community of our day.  It is an issue that is close to me, as I think of myself as a mystic and often feel, to varying degrees, alienated from the activist focus of so many Quakers individuals and Quaker organizations.

My take on this is that contemporary Quaker activism is a part of the largely…

I found Micah Bales post about the reluctance some Friends have to talk about, to name, God and Jesus in our witness to be resonate with my own experience.  I wrote this sonnet about the current situation vis a vis this kind of speaking.  I wrote it a few years ago, not as a direct response to Micah, but it feels to me pertinent to that topic:

God-Talk

It's difficult to talk about Jesus.

Ev'ryone seems to have an opinion.

With so much conflict…