I am within and without. I am self-conscious ego in itself and in others and everything. I exist with you and without you ... in awakening or sleeping. I am timelessness and temporality ... shattering both in direct and sustained un-refracted light even while acknowledging and living refraction. I am monism and pluralism redeemed and resolved in a consciousness anchored in and a conscious informed by that which I am. I am neither separate Being no is everything me and I everything. I am the…

My meeting has an old Oak Tree standing at the front of the meeting house.  How old I can't tell you.  but I can tell you someone wrote an article about this same "Old oak Tree" about one hundred and sixty years ago.  There's even a picture of the oak tree with the article (which we keep posted on our bulletin board) showing the "Old oak Tree" which shows a good healthy oak tree that you would think was a hundred years old.  Massive trunk.  Robust branches.

Today the "Old oak Tree"…

Like a thorn in your side is the prophet in the midst. It refuses to budge, like the splinter under your skin. A persistent irritation at least but, more likely, acute inflammation is the dreaded effect of this dis-ease.

No wonder religion has not been good to, let alone understanding of, the prophet in the midst. "He was too far ahead of his time" or "She just couldn't accept the way things are" is the historical/hysterical explanation for the impending backlash. And the unarmed…

THE LEVELED GUN, THE BATTLE-BRAND,

WE MAY NOT TAKE;

BUT CALMLY LOYAL, WE CAN STAND

AND SUFFER WITH OUR SUFFERING KIND

FOR CONSCIENCE’ SAKE…

In all the circumstances of the days and hours, I am the living presence the abstract mind overshadows with the promise of rationalization. Cares and concerns, fears and anxiety, joy and exhilaration, are given over to the workings of the rational mind to resolve or exercise. I move within and between the outward ideological and emotional manifestations that flow to the rational mind from those respective realms.

Enter the restful watch within even in the midst of circumstances of the…

I have this obsession with the soul and people keep telling me it's not important.  I keep insisting that it is saying that we are living souls but we act like our physical bodies represent who we really are.  As I was driving around today thinking of this dialogue a thought occurred.  How much time do we spend deciding what to wear and what to eat?  And how much time do we spend on the condition of our soul and what we feed it?  The answer should give us an idea of how we value our physical…

The Doctrine of Discovery is a legal principle that still informs American jurisprudence. In the 1828 Supreme Court case Johnson v. M'Intosh, "Chief Justice John Marshall justified the way in which colonial powers laid claim to lands belonging to…

Meantime: Sparing the Court of Quaker Opinion the wait, we live in the "Here and  Now" as gift, or the present.

Endtime: Forgetting the inevitability of human death/destruction, and missing the opportunity for reconciliation, or the eternal present.

Meantime: Doing the most good in the little time we have upon this earth?

Endtime: Uniting with, as well as answering, that of God in each other.

Meantime: Before it's too late to do so?

Endtime: As the only way…

In moments of inclusiveness, I am there. In moments of exclusiveness, I am there. I am neither inclusive nor exclusive and I am both inclusive and exclusive ... I am. In me neither is the principle ... I am the Principle; I am the Agenda.

 Yea, and he that hath faith, and can see beyond an other, yet can have it to himself, and not disturb his brother with it, but can descend and walk with him according to his measure; and if his brother have any heavy burthen upon…

Before I write another word, I need to qualify my remarks. What follows is not an attempt to retaliate or to prove my superiority. I'll use my exact words from a listserve post that appears to have upset many people. Truthfully, I have probably read the entire page-long passage at least fifteen times by now and still cannot find any fault with it.

I…

In the series I have been posting on 'Intepreting Our Past' I was leading up to the idea of Quaker Monasticism.  But Martin beat me to it by featuring the blog that discusses the 'New Monasticism' and its possible application to the Quaker community.  I'm glad the subject has come up.  Here are a few comments:

1. I think the biggest obstacle to a Quaker Monasticism is that modern Quakers, both liberal and evangelical, have rejected their Quietist heritage.  The period of Quietism…

According to Pink Dandelion, Quakers have resurrected the low-speed, two-lane, unlimited access road. Actually, he writes(in An Introduction To Quakerism): "...a Seeker C type...operate a doctrine of the 'absolute perhaps' and they operate it in a prescriptive way. In other words, these Friends are zealous, even fundamentalist, about their theological stance."

Thankfully, the way offered provides for the slow-moving plain-conservatives to enter the fray in one lane…

I am Christened. I am Presence ... awaken by Grace to eternity. I am divine light. I am the thing itself. The thing itself is within and without me. I am faith in the mystery of pure consciousness and pure conscience. Eternal identity, eternal life, is sustained through immediate being/Being in direct knowledge and experience of Presence; not in abstract ideas about the Life. I am not an object to be talked about or trapped in outward intellectual and institutional forms. I am Presence and…

This is a response to a vocal ministry I gave this past week. I would very much like to know your thoughts and life experiences. I'm sure there are some very rich, very enlightening stories that would encourage everyone's comprehension and contribution.



First of all, here are the two Scriptural passage…

I shared this column with a non-Quaker audience earlier in the week. Now I'd like to lay it before you and see how you feel about what I've written. Though my criticisms are sharp, they are not intended to be deliberately hurtful. Here I've described cultural aspects which beg for revision.

__________

A year and a half ago, I attended a…

Quietism and Abolition

 Quakers are proud of their abolitionist heritage.  The story of how Quakers confronted their own complicity in slavery and then, over a period of time, rejected that institution, is one that is often told.  John Woolman’s transformation on this issue, and his dedicated, and effective, campaign to remove slavery and slaveholders from the Society of Friends is inspiring and often held as an ideal to which modern Quakers should aspire and model their own behavior…

I am there when anger or joy approaches from the realm of feeling. I am there when another manifests anger or joy. I am there when a wonderful or compelling thought approaches from the realm of ideas. I am Presence between the manifestations of thought and feeling.

Re-turn to me amidst all the thoughts and feelings that approach. I am the Peace in the midst of all clamor; opening a quiet space to live the Life. I save Presence within so that eternity lives even as the realms of…

The last couple of days I’ve been squarely in the middle of an lengthy academic debate. Each argument is full of so many arcane terms that making it through it is painful. Truthfully, it gives me a headache. Recognizing that, I understand why Quakers placed such an emphasis on speaking plainly and with Truth. Specious arguments sound good, but they collapse…