Does nature mirror God or does God mirror nature? Even before the saving cross, there was the killing tree. Even before the muck and mire of human existence, there was the dense forest. Even before the sugar daddy or supermom to exploit, there was the giant sequoia trees.

In order to survive, some plants, as humans, cling to a supporting host. Mere survival soon gives way to the need to flourish. No longer satisfied to be hidden in the shadows of obscurity, these young upstarts climb…

Foundation: Need we point out to the Court of Quaker Opinion the essential foundation of Quakerism?

Skylight: Would that be faith and practice, reason or the Bible?

Foundation: All of the above.

Skylight: Nolo contendere - all known by, and with, the Church's one foundation, who is above your foundation(s).

Foundation: So what's the purpose of the skylight?

Skylight: To allow the Light of immediate revelation for what Oliver Wendell Holmes called the…

Welcome to 'Over and Under' with our contestants from Team Over: Ms. Religious Right, Mr. Libertarian, and Friend Ecology; and from Team Under: Miss Silence, Mr. Independent Party, and Friend Underground Spring.

Let's start with Ms. Religious Right who argues that religion is the answer to the problems of the world - provided it's the right Religion, or the religion of the Right. In other words, over-joyed at the opportunity to take on the evils of empire; forgetting, I'm sure, the…

T. of OO: Grounded in a truth of our own, the Court of Quaker Opinion is asked to decide for the defense in this case.

T. of O: We attest, as plaintiff, of one's own truth not measuring up to the truth of oneself.

T. of OO: Possession is still the greater part of the law in which truth plays a decisive role.

T. of O: Possessed of the truth of oneself frees us from both that law and the onus of ownership.

T. of OO: Wouldst thou not defend thy own truth against that…

The only reason to learn to "wait your turn" or "take turns" is because of the wrong turn humanity took towards individuality. The ancient wisdom of Anaximander(the first scientist) that things(and people) pay the penalty of injustice(individuality) according to the disposition of time is more simply cited by Schopenhauer as "a wrong" that humankind perpetuates in the name of self-fulfillment.

That Quakerism has gotten lost in individual discernment of paths to righteousness when our…

Constructive: Affirming the Einsteins on the Court of Quaker Opinion, we follow the course of experimentation to arrive at truth.

Principled: Strange, then, that Einstein formed theories, as "special relativity", based on elementary principles.

Constructive: Experiments, like the double-slit, allow quantum leaps in an explanation of reality.

Principled: Supplying the "How" but not the "Why" of truth, as explanation is not understanding of reality.

Constructive:…

Plato's "Symposium" presents the original poverty of humanity("Penia") as gaining the advantage over the intoxicating abundance of culture("Poros") in order to create the unanswerable query/mystery("Eros").

No wonder Friends have difficulty in both identifying and naming The Word Made Flesh. No wonder science scratches its head at the puzzle that is nature and nurture. No wonder the human body, an open-armed image of the cross, is the doubted means to salvation.

"Perhaps"…

Energy: In the Spirit of Quaker Opinion, we propose, for the Court's consideration, the energy of life.

Matter: The positive force of matter or the negative force of gravity?

Energy: Er, well, we're speaking, then, of the spiritual energy of life.

Matter: Again, the positive or the negative sort?

Energy: The sort that some people have tapped into for spiritual understanding.

Matter: As they understand how positive and negative forces of energy…

Please join me in looking to that which is eternal. This is not the new season of your favorite TV show. This is not your latest "take" on life or health or even spirituality. This is especially not your mind - that Friends rarely but truly speak to now and again(especially at YM or Conference Sessions).

"That of God" is that which is eternal - or have you forgotten that the real you/personality is meant to live forever? Are you ready and willing to have the real you known by…

Certainty: Perhaps the Court of Quaker Opinion knows the importance of certainty for belief.

Truth: Perhaps certainty is not truth, and is less important than doubt for arriving at truth.

Certainty: The joy accompanying certainty witnesses to its personal worth.

Truth: The strength accompanying truth witnesses to the world its lasting endurance.

Certainty: My experience is validated by certainty.

Truth: Love is the only true validation of a human life.…

OMG - did you sense and understand that?!

This is Christ's News Team: Local managers/overseers, reporters/prophets, and editors/elders at God's service. For the God of loving communication has a fierce way of providing it.

No stone/emotion/thought/betrayal left unturned; no inside scoop barred from exposure; and no complacency left unchecked. This is a crackerjack team of publishers of truth.

They are only mystical in the sense of trying to solve, not propagate, the…

E.D.: We presume that the Court of Quaker Opinion is humble enough to trust the unfolding of evolutionary destiny.

Freedom: Humility demands that you consider the possible unfolding of evolutionary destruction, as well.

E.D.: In either case, we need to respect the cosmic control of evolution.

Freedom: Which is your way, as the ancient Greeks before you, of deifying evolution, or cosmos.

E.D.: God works through natural processes, which over time reach…

Gift: We rejoice in the gifts of God as cherished by the Court of Quaker Opinion.

Giver: The Bible is a gift of God that is not for believing in, but, rather, believing with.

Gift: What about truth?

Giver: The truth is likewise a gift of God that is not for believing in, but, rather, believing with.

Gift: What about Christianity?

Giver: Christianity, as a way of life, is also a gift of God that is not for believing in, but, rather, believing…

Because God's blessings are abundant, they are free for the asking. Because God's grace is sufficient, there is no charge; it is a gift and not earned income, yet invites reciprocal outflow. Because God's redemption is paid in full, repossessing is not an issue - yet, there's no interest paid by most brokers.

If our lives have been purchased by God, why are we always looking for credit and worried about our net worth?! Where sin abounds, the economy of grace playgrounds for the…

Stature: It has pleased the Court of Quaker Opinion to look to "Friends of Stature" for enlightenment and direction.

Nature: The truth that familiarity breeds contempt, or at least disregard, prevents such from being looked for "in(Meeting)house".

Stature: We supply the interest and enthusiasm formerly generated by itinerant Public Friends.

Nature: Aside from threshing ministry held in public, travelling ministers offered their supplemental assistance in Meetings and…

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…

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…

Immediate: True to the Court of Quaker Opinion, we claim an immediate connection with the divine.

Mediated: As in Psalm 82:6?

Immediate: That of God in us gives us the ability, if not the right, to claim such an association.

Mediated: Actually, you claim the privilege, not the responsibility, of your immediate connection/association with the divine.

Immediate: That of God in us is both Teacher and Guide.

Mediated: And what is not of God in you creates the…

Bonnet: Imploring the Court of Quaker Opinion, we adorn ourselves in a mode of plain simplicity.

Veil: You hide behind your testimony rather than testify to your hidden life in God.

Bonnet: We subject ourselves to our husbandry.

Veil: But bristle at the Scripture that commends wives to be submissive to their husbands.

Bonnet: We who share in the farm work also share in an equality of persons.

Veil: But are ye to be found in the big cities of ridicule and…

For too many of our Meetings, the Light's on but nobody's home for us. The Light has taken us to school, but no one is there for our return. We have so many things to tell and share about the experience of being taught; yet, though many are listening for the Teacher, few care to hear from the student.

Where to go, and what to do about this latch-keyed danger?

Jennifer Elam in "Dancing with God Through the Storm" writes, "A container is a safe environment in which to be with…