5th mo. 2009 Blog Posts (23)

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Quaker Quotes of the Day

I'm starting a new daily Quotes blog over on this new Quaker Quotes of the Day blog. My apologies for the duplicate posting, I'm just getting the system in place! See also: my post about this on Quakerranter.org.

Added by Martin Kelley on 5th mo. 30, 2009 at 9:30am — 3 Comments

What if I can only bring you a debt?

We don't live in the old times where debts got written off every seven years in Jubilee. How many of the people you know and who live near you are tied into their lifestyles of bad work and bad consumption by the need to repay debts?



I think the traditional Quaker understanding that a person had to be free of debt to be a good disciple is pretty radical. I want all people to have freedom to choose but how free can we be if debts keep people trapped in bad work, bad consumption to… Continue

Added by Alice Yaxley on 5th mo. 29, 2009 at 9:31am — 2 Comments

What to do while waiting patiently

Patience is a forced virtue. My hypotheses is that you learn it and practice it involuntarily. My personal circumstances over the past two years have put me in a situation where God has forced my hand: I have no control over the timing or outcome of things, only the control over how I respond to the events He has placed in my life.



A personal note: Nearly two years ago, I accepted a role in my company that requires I live/work in the Northwest, and since then, I've been commuting… Continue

Added by Deb Buerkle on 5th mo. 28, 2009 at 10:46am — No Comments

My hope is in God's peace-making power

[Taken from my response to Marv Ostberg's blog post.]



I'm pretty young and idealistic I guess, but here, I'll try to describe the way I'm seeing it: God's justice is peacemaking, it tells me I have to work together with you and everyone to find the way we can live on the planet even with those who hate us and blame us and don't want us to exist. That's why we have to pray for our enemies. When I pray for my enemies I get really changed by it. I can see them as people. I hope for them… Continue

Added by Alice Yaxley on 5th mo. 25, 2009 at 5:03pm — 2 Comments

avoiding simplicity and being humble is good

here is the thing: i am a navy vet and even though i never had to fire a gun in defense or anger i am aware that in some way i may have contributed to deaths even though i served in peacetime - the eisenhower presidency. but i was also there as a representative of our culture to japan and other places in the far east. yet, i humbly concern myself that in some way i may have contributed to violence.



now then i do not hear any of the same type of humiity from quakers or others of the… Continue

Added by marv ostberg on 5th mo. 24, 2009 at 9:25pm — 7 Comments

Isolated Friends, helping each other?

At the moment I have such a strong sense that following God is a communal activity. I don't know if any of us are strong enough to do it alone. Jesus was upset, he needed his friends to watch and pray when he was facing the difficult stuff.



I have a Meeting relatively close (1.5h walk, 35min bus) but I want to have Meeting with the people in my street and the surrounding streets.



I hear a lot on this site about isolated Friends who are struggling feeling alone on your path… Continue

Added by Alice Yaxley on 5th mo. 23, 2009 at 9:19am — 3 Comments

One of Those Externals....

Just a suggestion... but how long does it take a typical Quaker to get tuned in?



My impression is that it takes longer than an hour.



I know we've had some groups experimenting with at least occasional longer meetings. Even considering the fact that these would be self-selected, unusually spiritually-inclined members in the first place--I understand that the results have been generally good.



Over an hour is not unusual for a church service.



Among other… Continue

Added by Forrest Curo on 5th mo. 23, 2009 at 7:31am — 1 Comment

red lotus

Yesterday I got a strong sense of why traditional Quaker preachers were so keen to suppress their own personalities.



I still think it was an error, from applying a crude theology to reality: the notion that we are a Christ spirit tangled within an unruly animal self--within a personal self that must be murdered to let Christ rule in us all alone.



But I had this responsibility to not blow it, to pass on the Transmission with the cleanest possible signal.



I'd just… Continue

Added by Forrest Curo on 5th mo. 21, 2009 at 6:30pm — No Comments

Scott McKnight on gospel and community

I know, I know I said I was taking a break but seriously read this if you are interested in evangelising/Gospel Order.



If reading the Bible as Story teaches us anything, and we need to emphasize this one more time, it teaches us that God's work in this world is to form communities that visibly demonstrate the power of God at work in this world.



This is explaining some stuff I've been… Continue

Added by Alice Yaxley on 5th mo. 21, 2009 at 4:23pm — 11 Comments

Gospel and community

Forrest wrote: If we bring to bear the collective attention of a group of interested people, mentally centered and open to whatever message the Spirit may have for us, on some specific occasion, then we can see God at work, using it in and among us!



Yeah! I guess this is where I'm at. I want to live in this living tradition with all of you, but I don't see how we can do that unless we are doing it together, like we are here on QuakerQuaker and in our Meetings. If we're not… Continue

Added by Alice Yaxley on 5th mo. 18, 2009 at 5:59am — 1 Comment

It is all about the Spirit



For me all the reasons I am a Quaker are more superficial and it is not about the qualities that define my Quakerism, but my relationship to God/Spirit.



As I have learned to see 'that which is of God' in every one, I have learned to give up judgment and love each person for who they are, regardless of their beliefs and practices. I fully understand that some people need different practices in their religious services than the… Continue

Added by Scott Holloway on 5th mo. 17, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Found this old blog post describing how I was "convinced"--PART 3

Final: part 3

I did church crawl the next week. I went to a yuppy church near my apartment. This is one of those churches were there's one old couple, but everyone else is 20-30 somethings. The opening hymns were played by a rock band. I had to give them credit for being great musicians--even if they were the type of Christians who creep me out. They seemed to be of a self-righteous bent. These are Christians who are frustrated because they limit themselves to tools and…

Continue

Added by Darrin S. on 5th mo. 17, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Found this old blog post describing how I was "convinced"--PART 2

Here's part 2:

I went to the meeting the next week. I couldn't resist. Those three hours I'd spent at meeting the week before had been the shortest of my life. I felt completely at home. I had read everything I could find on the internet about the Quakers. I had to know if that was a fluke or if that experience was my home, at least for now.



I will say that the next meeting was less impressive than the first, but still excellent.



I managed to show up…

Continue

Added by Darrin S. on 5th mo. 17, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Found this old blog post describing how I was "convinced"--PART 1

I had almost forgotten how I discovered the Quakers! So I'm grateful that I left detailed comments in my first blog post on this site. Here they are reproduced, from May 17th, 2009 (5th mo. 17, right?):

I'm considering expanding this blog a bit.



One day, I conceived the idea of doing a church crawl - a trip to a different church every week. After much hemming and hawing, I managed to drag a friend along. We went to a Catholic church in an up and coming…

Continue

Added by Darrin S. on 5th mo. 17, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

scriptures and universalism

Post below reposted and adapted from my comment to the discussion following Richard Gordon Zyne's recent post here about his translation of the Taoist scripture.



I'm interested by my reaction to people posting extensively or leaning heavily on from other holy books - not our own scripture - here on Quaker Quaker. I wanted to ask for more explanation of why that is relevant to in this space where we are attempting to be Quakers together, and I guess I didn't do that in a very skillful… Continue

Added by Alice Yaxley on 5th mo. 15, 2009 at 2:03pm — 15 Comments

THE ETERNAL SOURCE - A NEW INTERPRETATION OF THE TAO TE CHING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY, BY RICHARD GORDON ZYNE

THE ETERNAL SOURCE



A new interpretation of the Tao Te Ching for the 21st Century



By



Richard Gordon Zyne











© Richard Gordon Zyne, 2009













































Dedication



To Paula,

a pure emanation of the ETERNAL SOURCE.











Prayer



For my wife,

my children,… Continue

Added by Richard Gordon Zyne on 5th mo. 13, 2009 at 8:56pm — 5 Comments

Watching a Dream Grow Up

Watching a Dream Grow Up - The Bridge Film Festival turns 10 in the country where the Society of Friends began.



Ten years ago I returned from summer vacation to begin my second year as a film and video teacher at Brooklyn Friends School with a simple idea to create a film festival that encouraged students to produce work containing… Continue

Added by Andrew Swartley Cohen on 5th mo. 10, 2009 at 7:10pm — No Comments

San Diego Meeting May Newsletter

(until we get a site that supports this elsewhere)

May Newsletter.pdf

Added by Forrest Curo on 5th mo. 8, 2009 at 1:13am — No Comments

This Matter of God

Many of the difficulties of atheists... come from the way God has been described to them.



They start wrestling with the question, "Can an infinitely good being be in charge of, be responsible for, this universe full of Historical Events and other forms of suffering?" They see some Christians in terror of this allegedly good and loving being, whom they are told intends to inflict eternal suffering on many people for having turned out Bad--or merely turned out impolite to deities, too… Continue

Added by Forrest Curo on 5th mo. 5, 2009 at 7:07pm — 1 Comment

Is cooking a divine gift?

Just posted on Hungry Friends about a book that inspired a conversation about many things, including whether good cooks have a certain divine je ne sais quois, or if they just follow cookbooks really well. What do you think?

Added by Shaun Chavis on 5th mo. 5, 2009 at 1:54am — 4 Comments

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