I had planned to play in the pool at physical therapy today, and then catch the bus out to St. Michael's Episcopal Church to hang out with fellow beaders. 

First, my physical therapist called and said they were having a problem with the pool, so I was rescheduled for tomorrow, but I also wasn't feeling "quite right" anyway, so I didn't mind the cancellation.  THEN a chronic medical issue decided to p ay a call, and leaving the apartment (other than to exercise The Girls) let alone…

I'm told (via "Quaker Jane") that "Let your lives speak" literally isn't in George Fox's writings.

The well-known example, of phrases that come close, is of course from his Journal. Ironically, it is in a letter he addressed "To Friends in the Ministry."

"...

"Bring all into the worship of God: plow up the fallow ground thresh and get out the corn, that all people may come to…

1 Kings 5 – Hiram of Tyre (a great friend of David’s) sent his servants to help Solomon build the temple David had planned for but not built.  Solomon explains to Hiram that David never had the peace he needed to build the Temple; there were endless threats on his borders. But Solomon now has the peace needed to devote himself to the task. They get their timber from Lebanon – cedar and cypress. The king had it made into rafts and sent by sea.  In return, Solomon will provide food to…

Remember that splendid "Serenity Prayer" that is at the core of 12 Step Programs?  It often takes courage to  accept the things we cannot change, and to move past those negative elements in our lives. 

What is the proper way to handle a situation with a person whose values and rhetoric conflict radically with our own, as Quakers? 

It takes wisdom to realize and accept when another person is not going to change, though I think most folks these days have the basic perception that…

1 Kings 3 – Solomon takes one of the Pharaoh’s daughters in marriage.  [Asimov says the 21^st Dynasty in Egypt was in a state of decline They “ruled only the Nile delta, while upper Egypt was under the domination of the priests of Ammon, who ruled as virtual monarchs from Thebes,” 323] People in Israel are still sacrificing “at the high places . . .because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord” (3:2). The king sacrifices in Gibeon, “the principal high place”…

Yesterday was a big day here in Kentucky:  the running of the famous Kentucky Derby. 

I did not go to Churchill Downs (despite several invitations), I did not attend any of the Derby Festival activities, and I politely refused all invitations to Derby Parties (the saner alternative to actually attending the race, but still not for me).  There was even a Quaker Derby Party. 

As a person with a deep love for the creatures with which we share Creation and with a gift for working…

I am in Michigan with my father, who is in Hospice and slowly dying. My family (mother, sisters, extended family) has come together to support him and someone has been with him 24/7 since he came to hospice last week.

I find the experience an inspiration. My father, has been good natured and aware of what is happening to him. He is a devout Methodist, and is at peace with his approaching death. He speaks about his desire to cross over to be his family (his mother, father and brothers)…

1 Kings 2 – Before he dies David tells his son, “Be strong, be courageous, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statues, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do. . .Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul,…

Rather than repost in its entirety, here's a short excerpt and a link:

"....  in my opinion, the leading challenge to FGC is that we cannot reach unity on outreach and growth. Do we try to find new attenders deliberately? Do we work at nurturing new attenders so they become permanent members? Those two things have to happen if we want to reverse the decline in numbers."…

 While we’re talking about how we read the Bible, whether it is clear and authoritative with regard to homosexuality, let’s consider Genesis 13:15; 15:7,18; and 17:8.  These are the key passages in which God gives Abram (renaming him Abraham) and his descendants all the land of Canaan forever. 

 It’s quite a promise.  It’s relatively rare for God to speak directly in the Bible. This is a specific, important promise that lasts forever.  And remember Abraham himself isn’t from Canaan…

Introduction to Kings:  The two books called Kings open in the year 973, the last year of David’s reign. The book reached its final form 400 years after Solomon (6^th C). Lawrence Boadt, in his book Reading the Old Testament tells us that the books tell us the story of the line of kings established around 1000 BC down through the conquest of Judah in the 6^th c. BC. The focus is on the level of faithfulness each demonstrates to the covenant made with David…

http://downtoegypt.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/free-hugs-campaign-staying-with-friends.html

http://downtoegypt.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/thanks-for-help.html

http://downtoegypt.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/hosts-in-barcelona-cancer-biologist-and.html?spref=fb

2 Samuel 24 – The Lord gets angry at Israel and incites David to take a census - always a bad thing in Israel. It's interesting to ponder why it was seen as a bad thing, something "satan" would put into David's head. Numbering of people in one's "land" was tied with military service, and the whole concept of "state sovereignty," or organization of a people under the rule of a monarch was not something that flowed easily from Hebrew monotheism. Samuel warned against it…

Sometime in the early 1980s, I came across Ted Nelson's Computer Lib / Dream Machines.  The book had two covers and was to be read in two directions, with the more staid presentation going forward, the more revolutionary coming the other way.

He was on about hypertext and Project Xanadu.  This was all before Tim Berners-Lee…

In some reflective journaling this morning, I came up with a new equation:

ENERGY = TRUST

Instantly, I sensed this also as TRUTH for me: pivotal, essential and wisdom pared to the…

2 Samuel 23 – David’s last words—an oracle:

The spirit of the Lord speaks through me,

     his word in upon my tongue.

The God of Israel has spoken,

     the Rock of Israel has said to me:

One who rules over the people justly,

     ruling in the fear of God,

     is like the light of morning,

     like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,

     gleaming…

This week's message focused on the "e-word"--"evangelism." How can we share about our faith without the dangers of manipulation, hellfire and brimstone and all the trappings of evangelicalism that tend to make us squeamish? "Caught in Community" by Lynn Holt.