Here's a series of blog posts on Quaker revitalization -- from a prairie viewpoint.  Here are a few new posts I've written on revitalization -- based on organic renewal.

http://holyordinary.blogspot.com/2014/02/fallowness-and-quaker-renewal-prairie.html…

Early in John Wilbur's labors against those who did not have faith in a consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by the immediacy of Presence, Betsy Purinton wrote these words to him in a letter:

The longer I live, the more I feel the necessity of a deep indwelling with the spirit of Divine life, and as my dear, aged kinswoman, (Comfort Collins,) used to say, neither ' borrow nor steal,' however in want ; and this is not all, but to be content with our little,…

ESR Director of Supervised Ministry Stephanie Crumley-Effinger delivered the following message in ESR Worship on February 20, 2014. 

We live in a period of high demand for our energy, attention, and time. Multitasking, efficiency, and accomplishment are widely held up as virtues…

Dear Friends, 

as a follow up to my thoughts on business in superfluities and bad examples, I offer a (top ten) list of attitudes and behaviours to follow John Woolman in today's context. These examples are meant to show how I apply the rather abstract thoughts to every day life. They are part of my lived testimony of simplicity.…

Political Activism: A Lack of Faith in the sufficiency of a consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by Presence ... the seed of Christ in human being.

Political activism is the agitation of human being to anchor consciousness and inform conscience in outward political agenda. It is a lack of faith in the immediacy of Presence as the anchor and guide of human being in human and worldly events.

Political and religious professors and activists seek to avert human being…

God and other artists are always a little obscure

~Oscar Wilde

I recently finished reading the new novel by Sue Monk Kidd The Invention of Wings. In the story, the main character in the process of becoming a Quaker, sits in Worship, trying to discern the will of God in her personal life. This was the turning point in the story.

And as I sit in Worship this morning I am wondering why…

The Living Gospel unhinged from outward worldly and bodily religious forms.

Or

The Message of Christ free from canonical testimony in Immediacy.

Or

The Message Unmediate

Normally, consciousness is anchored in and conscience is informed by external forms or by externalized borrowed experience in the form…

ESR student Justimore Musombi reflects on his trip to the Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Concerns 2014 Mid-Winter Gathering in Portland, Oregon:

I recently attended my first FLGBTQC Mid-Winter Gathering…

Napoleon Bonaparte is quoted, "I measure my dreams with the calipers of reason." Indeed, progress, as much as military victory, is about calculation. The rule that guides the calculation, however, is the caliper; for there needs to be a stable starting point from which to move and measure results.

Whether secular or religious progress, history and geography are the fixed points of the caliper rule. The fact that there is both a history and a geography associated with divine…

There was a time in my life when the observation of the natural world was Sanctuary (among other outward activities like the Church, or teachings of others, or political activism) and the immediacy of Christ was secondary.…

I had the opportunity to participate in a recent retreat of the Switzerland Yearly Meeting on the Spirituality of John Woolman. Here are some personal reflections:

On Business in Superfluities and the Influence of Bad Examples

My seeds are sprouting nicely.  Of course they were dropped right in the middle of a "rapid rooter" so no seed were wasted, something that didn't bother Jesus' sower who is more concerned with the soil into which the seed is sown than the seed itself (1 Timothy 2:3 &4: For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who…

Happenings in Presence.

Much of life was spent relatively speaking, outside the Presence. Life is now, relatively speaking, in the Presence. Here is how life, relatively speaking, manifests, for me, in daily life.

I recently re-upholstered a wing-backed recliner for a family member. She has lower back problems so a bolster was created (tailored to her needs) to support her lower back and give…

Thomas Swann shares his thoughts on Earlham School of Religion’s 2014 Willson Lectures featuring Rita Nakashima Brock:

Rita Nakashima Brock's work as the co-creator of the Soul…

The second season of the acclaimed television drama House of Cards was finally released at the end of last week. For those of you who have not seen it, I highly recommend the series. The entire season, all thirteen episodes, was available to view at one time. Like many, I binge watched over the weekend, though I’ve slowly been savoring each episode…

Are you anxious about global warming, the repeat waves of recession, government shut downs, or any other discernible sign of an impending apocalypse?

The end of the world has been a popular topic for centuries, but none of the doomsday scenarios so far have caught my attention. But I feel inspired by the thoughts and queries shared by Ben Pink Dandelion, a Quaker scholar from England.

Here is the first part of a series of study sessions on Quaker theology and history…

When I was still living in the Deep South, I attended a small church. By small, I mean that by megachurch standards it was tiny. Within easy driving distance of my childhood home, one could find several such institutions. I used to dismissively call them “Six Flags over Jesus.” Speaking for myself, I’m more comfortable in relatively small religious settings. The…

1A: Like democracy itself, we applaud the Court of Quaker Opinion as the voice and rule of the people.

1C: Like a theocracy, we hearken to the voice and rule of God.

1A: The basic human rights of the individual are both self-evident and inalienable.

1C: Because they are given by God, yet poorly guaranteed by democracies.

1A: Precisely why we reverence a system of government that allows an amendment to guarantee liberty of conscience.

1C: What is amen(d)able…

There is another way:

Short-form

A consciousness anchored in and a conscience informed by the activity of intuition.

Long-form

A consciousness anchored in the activity of observation and thinking (not anchored in the things observed and thoughts about the things observed); and a conscience informed by the activity of intuitive imagination (not the morals or ethics from sources outside pure intuition).

To experience such a consciousness and a conscience is…

Originally posted by me on FB in 2009:



         Once upon a dream, in what seems almost like a fairy tale now,  I lived for a short while in a city that felt like a second skin. I have many extraordinary stories of moments that made me think "I am exactly where I am suppose to be" but perhaps my favorite is the morning I met God.

        One sunny spring morning, groggy and wishing for a cup of tea, I was navigating myself back home from the suburbs of the city I love…