Continue

As I wonder around QuakerQuaker, I am feeling like I do when I go into a large-good book store, and enter the "Literature" section. There are just so many books, most of which I have not a clue about (having a high school education focused on welding and machining did not prepare me for Lit... oh well a challenge yet to overcome).

 

So I liked the name "Convergent Friends". I like how Convergent feels as a word. The symbolism. I read a bit about it... like the idea of it. As I…

Continue

http://brooklynquaker.blogspot.com/2011/08/visitor-to-quaker-meeting.html

We call what we're studying [on the kwakerskripturestudy blog] "Scripture", which means "written stuff."



People have gone from an overly-reverent attitude towards scripture, to effective neglect. "There's some very inspiring and ethically-instructive material in all that, and you can read it if you like, but we want to rush out and make a difference in the world."

 

the…

Continue

My compulsion to accomplish is fueled by a computer the size of the pack of cigarettes my mom used to slide into her purse. It serves as my calendar, my watch, my address book, and my to-do list. Its podcasts accompany me on my morning walks with my dog. One day recently, our workout stretched longer than usual, beyond the length of the hour-long program I typically listen to. With a quarter-mile to go before my loop returned me home, I pulled the buds out of my ears and stuffed my iPod into…

Continue

If you care about domestic violence, please go to e-petitions, 'domestic violence', and sign the petition.

Because...Domestic Violence has a severe impact on our national life. The NSPCC say that  at least 750,000 children witness it every year. One in three women attends Casualty because of it. There are 1,300 calls a day for help. The government needs to respond with far more more urgent and effective policies and support for the victims. Instead the government is cutting…

Continue

Last year I attended a conference called “Big Tent Christianity.”  Phillip Clayton and Tripp Fuller cosponsored this event. As many of you recall Philip is a Quaker from Claremont Friends and is former dean of theology at Claremont Theological School. (Currently, he serves as vice-president of academic affairs and dean of the faculty at CTS).  He spoke to us last year during meeting for worship.  Clayton described Big Tent this way:

‘Big Tent’ evokes the image of the revival tent that…

Continue

Continue

Time goes by. Working. Relationship. chores. all take up time.

 

My collection of books is not getting smaller either. :)

 

So when does God or my Inner Light shine? 

 

I do have some time while commuting, that I use to listen to Podcasts. I enjoy Podcasts. Unfortunately, there are not too many Quaker podcasts via iTunes that I have found. 

 

I am reading "Friends of 300 years" a book a bought a number of years ago, but never read. I…

Continue

 

In the Law it is written: "Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me," says the Lord.  So the gift of speaking in other languages is a sign for unbelievers, not for believers. The gift of speaking what God has revealed is a sign for believers, not for…

Continue

Continue

Ever since I began exploring Quakerism, I have noticed that my perception of G-d has transformed from a somewhat predictable and all-powerful view of G-d to a more pervasive and subtle one. In other words, I had expected a Moses-like encounter rather than an Elijah one. I had placed limitations on G-d by expecting Her to only show Her Presence in a loud, powerful, and biblically “predictable” fashion. Now, however, I am learning to recognize the “still small voice” within myself and without…

Continue

It is late Thursday night. Just finished packing tomorrow's lunch and doing the dishes.

 

I have been reflecting on the Meeting I attended last Sunday. At the beginning of service, one of the "elders"(??) got up at the beginning of the worship and read from the .... oh I am forgetting the proper name... (basically a collection of people's writings related to different topics put together by the Pacific Yearly Meeting... sorry it is late). Anyways, he read a couple of pieces…

Continue

 

In roughly a month from now, we will commemorate the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It is a date that has been associated in the minds of many with nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and draconian policy decisions. Islamophobia remains a potent force here, but arguably an even…

Continue

Listen!  

Listen to the sounds and voices of this year's FGC Gathering on the Grinnell College campus in Grinnell, Iowa.  I speak with dance photographer, Arthur Fink, about the spirituality of photography and Demi…

Continue

Listen now: Quaker Ranter Podcast

QuakerQuaker member Madeline Schaefer recently started a podcasting interview program called Friends Speaks my Mind and wanted to know how to host it here on the site. We've…

Continue

Greetings, Friends! 

Thirteen responses to the query "When has your longing for God's Presence been unfulfilled" are included in Chapter 2 of Minding the Light (attached). 

 

Minding the Light: Our Collective Journal is a bimonthly collection of personal stories from the lives of members and attenders of West Hills Friends.   Each issue is organized around a query.  The query for Chapter 1 was "When did you first recognize the…

Continue

When accessing the miniutes from the session just past, I had a few comments to add that might make this more useful.  I had to log in to my account. Then I had to prove I was human about 3 times before I could submit my comments to and unknow censor before it will appear.   This seems like a way to dicourage communication rather than promote it.  Three of main choices on the home page of PYM.ORG take you to pages related preparing for the past sessions.  What does this say to seekers trying to… Continue