ESR Director of Recruitment and Admissions Matt Hisrich reflects on John David Geib's recent book Beyond Beliefs:

“This book of words is for all of us who are seeking for more than just words.” With this invitation, retired …

Isaiah 29 – This oracle probably dates from the period preceding the siege and deliverance of Jerusalem in 701. According to a New Jerusalem bible note, the name Ariel means “lion of God” and is a name given by the prophet to Jerusalem. Here the prophet foresees the deliverance of the city despite the spirit of lethargy that the city’s prophets exhibit.

The anger of the Lord is still there against the great city: “Because this people approaches me only in…

Henry Becque noted, "The defect of equality is that we only desire it with our superiors". I would maintain that this same defect led early Friends to reject a push to the witness of equality promoted by Levellers for the pull towards the witness of inequality experienced by women.

To substantiate this claim, I refer to The Kindlers'(UK) pamphlet entitled "This I Warn You In Love: witness of some early Quaker women". In particular, "...to be seen as virtuous, she must accept the…

Isaiah 28 – This oracle was delivered before the fall of Samaria [Israel] to the Assyrians in 722 BC. They have become a “faded flower” “prostrated by wine” (28:1). The priests and prophets there are “reeling from strong drink” (28:7) and do not lead competently. They mock Isaiah and his style of prophecy.

The New Jerusalem presents this section in a unique way. A note to this passage tells us that some critics of Isaiah mimic his…

Hay%20Quaker%20Plain%20Calendar%202014.pdf

Shoutout to the Christian community with Ukraine. I work at a law firm. I am a Christian like you. Want prnimat participate in your events and prayers.
I would be glad to communicate.

Isaiah 27 – The Lord’s “terrible, swift sword” will “punish Leviathan, the swiftly moving serpent” (27:1). And, following up on image of the vineyard presented in Isaiah 5, the prophet tells us of God’s love of it. “I, the Lord, will watch over it, watering it carefully. Day and night I will watch so no one can harm it. My anger will be gone (27:3-4).

The Lord will burn up the “briers and thorns” (27:3) that try to invade them, but if they “make their peace with me”…

 This is the fourth of a series of posts on the Christmas story in the gospels. The first one concerned Matthew’s account, and the second concerned Mark’s account.  I’m dividing consideration of the story in Luke into two parts. The first is…

Isaiah 24 – Yahweh lays waste the earth and all who live on it – good, bad, high and low – the blessed “everlasting covenant” (24:5) God made with all humans has not been held sacred. The sounds of joyful celebration are silenced.

But there are “islands” in the world – pockets of faithful – who still lift up their voices and sing for joy. All will be destroyed – from the deities who claim honor in the skies to kings who will also be “herded together” (24:21) and…

There was a farmer who grew crops using artificial lighting and methods documented in a book he cherished. One day another farmer came to him and said that he does not use unnatural light but relies on the natural sun, in itself, to sustain and grow crops. The former responded by saying the sun certainly has its place, however, just look at how well his crops were growing under these artificial conditions and offered the latter his book and articles on unnatural growing methods.…

New Blog Post: "Oscillation"

http://wp.me/1OXtI

This is the third of a series of posts on the Christmas story in the gospels. The first one concerned Matthew’s account, and the second concerned Mark’s account.  I'll divide consideration of the story in Luke into two parts.

The gospel of Luke is our other nativity story. Or rather it is what…

Judy Rushby McLaughlin, one of my sisters, wrote the following reminiscence about the Orthodox Quaker fellowship at South Starksboro VT in the late 1960s.

                                       South Starksboro Through a Child's Eyes.

We roared over ribbony road toward the mountains from New York State.  They were mountains that we always looked at from afar off, but seldom went to. The Volkswagen Beetle crawled at a quick clip and struggled up the hill that…

Isaiah 23 – An oracle on Tyre (23:5-11) and Sidon (23:1-4 and 12-14). Sidon fell first in 701 BC. Sidon traded in the grain of Egypt and now is humbled. Yahweh did this or permitted it “to humble the pride of all her beauty and humiliate the great ones of the world” (23:9).  Now they must till the soil because the harbor is gone. Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, after which she will again “play the whore” (23:17) to make money, but this time it will be money for those…

Isaiah 21 – An oracle on the fall of Babylon in 710. Elam is the name for the ancient inhabitants of the high plateau from whence the Persians originated and the Medes had been vassals of Cyrus before the capture of Babylon.

The Edomites, conquered by the Assyrians as well, turn to Isaiah for help. And the Arabs too will need help from the “stress of battle” (15).

Isaiah 22 – An oracle against the Valley of Hinnom, SW of Jerusalem, in 705…

Isaiah 19 – Oracle against Egypt: The “idols of Egypt tremble before [Yahweh]” (19:1). The people of Egypt will fight against each other and the land will be demoralized. They will be handed over to a “hard master” (19:4), and the waters of the Nile will dry up. The fishermen, flax workers and weavers will all be dejected. The leaders of the country are fools – counting on the sages (past kings consulted by necromancers).

In a passage added later, according to the…

This is the second of a series of posts on the Christmas story in the gospels. The first one concerned Matthew’s account.

If we mean by the Christmas story the story of Jesus’s miraculous birth to Mary, then there is no Christmas story in Mark. This gospel begins when Jesus is a grown man.

But suppose we take the Christmas story to be the story of Jesus’s beginnings. Though Quakers…

Isaiah 15 – This oracle on Moab – the mountainous region on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. In the biblical story, Moab was the son of Lot and Lot’s elder daughter. The Assyrians invaded Moab. Nebo to the north was the mountain on which Moses was said to have died. The people lament; the land is a wasteland.

Isaiah 16 – Moabite survivors ford the Arnon – boundary with Judah – and take refuge there. When the assault is over and the “destroyer is no more”…

Isaiah 14 – The “Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle one again in the own land” (14:1).

The prophet offers a satire on the king of Babylon: In Sheol, the “kings” of the earth will greet the Babylonians, saying “So you too have been brought to nothing” (14:10). 

They used to think they would “climb up to the heavens” (14:13) but no – they cannot rival…

R.O.: May it please the Court of Quaker Opinion that we have not lost regard for our charismatic founder, nor the discipline that marks us as his offspring.

G.O.: Dear Friends, we are found(ed) by the Spirit of God and claimed by and for God's purpose. Along with the rest of humanity, we have always been children of God who now see the Light.

R.O.: We have a refuge from the world where we find freedom from dangerous diversions.

G.O.: There is no refuge from the Lamb's…