It's hard to believe, but this summer will mark the 10 year anniversary of QuakerQuaker. Isolated Friends had started blogging a few years earlier but the scene was exploding. It seemed as if some fascinating new blog started every week. And the aggregate was growing into something more--a conversation, a community. We were finding ways to talk about spirituality out loud with Friends from across the Quaker spectrum, growing in our own faith as we grew past stereotypes and built… Continue

Chapter 21 of Minding the Light: Our Collective Journal is now available online and attached below as a PDF file. For this chapter, we invited Friends to respond to the query, “When has the Light come to you in a time of darkness?" In response, we received 13 stories, two drawings, and a photo.  One of the stories was from a 7-year-old Friend.   

We invite you to read these stories for yourself. What stories rise for you as you sit with our latest…

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Excerpts from the Winter/Spring 2015 Harvard Divinity Bulletin

(Originally published as a post on Quaker Universalist Conversations on 3/25/2015.)

Eboo Patel is the founder and…

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A very belated conclusion to the original series: 

We all experience loss at some point times in our lives, but life goes on whether we’re ready for it to or not. As I write, I’m sitting at the old desk of my friend Pat; beside me on the bookshelf are Jack’s books. Both of these men have died, and as mentors to me in my ministry I often wish they were here to give me advice or offer support when I’m not sure what to do next. They are not forgotten, and I carry their memories with me…

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This moment in Quaker history has completely captured my attention. I am only beginning my research, however, I am completely compelled.

It is regrettable that the early Quakers who did not agree with Wilkinson seemingly destroyed much of the of the separatists writings. Because of that it seems I’m relegated to the characterizations of separatists by those who worked against them. I have little faith in such characterizations.…

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Blog topics for May, June & July



In May through July, we hope our readers will be led to share their personal reflections on several topics.

May 2015 — Quaker universalism and parenting

• What do we tell our children about the nature of God, the…

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My study of the Wilkinson/Story separation, to date, is edifying. Just to know there was a time right at the very beginning (relatively speaking) wherein, those who gathered together in the Light (Quakers) experienced disagreement over whether  directly inspired Presence was sufficient in itself to rule over the individuals among…

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The Dalai llama writes about ageing as an ability to forgive and to transcend sorrow so that it is useful to friends, family and the environment. Ageing Spiritually refers to the servitude and relevance that our lives have influenced the world and the souls we have touched who thought we could make a difference. We are not just born to our parents, but are lives of Heaven and Earth, as we observe the stillness and account for spiritual pathways, the essence of our channeling through the…

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Get a $5.99 ebook of A Garden Grows: Quakerism in Nazi Germany, Mary Mills' translation of essay by Hans Albrecht, a driving force behind the efforts of German Quakers to assist those persecuted by the Nazi government and Clerk of the German Yearly Meeting 1927-1947.



Our review is…

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There has been a universalist dimension to Quaker-Christian faith from the beginning.  It is grounded in a paradox that cannot be resolved, only lived.

—Douglas Gwyn,

"But Who Do You Say That I Am?" – Quakers and Christ Today

(Pendle Hill Pamphlet 426, 2014, p. 21)

In February on Quaker…

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Invitation.

Afternoon tea

for two.

A welcome.

The hospitality afforded

By a beautiful home

And space and Light Within.

Sharing experiences,

Points of connection.

Conversation, cozy by the fire,

Bright sparks of new friendship

Comforting contrast

To the dreary…

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Invitation.
Afternoon tea
for two.
A welcome.
The hospitality afforded
By a beautiful home
And space and Light Within.
Sharing experiences,
Points of connection.
Conversation, cozy by the fire,
Bright sparks of new friendship
Comforting contrast
To the dreary day

[Read more at SimplicityProcess.com . http://wp.me/p4NMHw-1k]

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Last January, police in South Carolina released a sketch of a possible murder suspect, drawn by artificial intelligence, based on information from DNA found at the crime scene. No eyewitnesses and no cameras had observed the murderer’s face, yet the computer produced an approximation of it, and the authorities believe it might help them solve the crime. (Pollack, NYT, 2/24/2015)…

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