Faith is one of those words we use all the time and rarely stop to examine. We know it’s a good thing to have—in the passage from Mark, we can hear the frustration in Jesus’ voice when he refers to the arguing crowd around him a “faithless generation.” He sounds so irritated by their lack […]
Read more "What Does It Mean to Have Faith?"Last Sunday, during monthly meeting for business, Ruth stood up and shared a thought she had about the flowerbeds on the south side of the meetinghouse. Right now, she said, there are boxwood bushes on each end and “dry, dead stuff” in the middle. She suggested we might put some thought and care into what […]
Read more "The Beautiful Season"As I stand up here before you this morning, I am communicating much more that my words can say. In fact, you might be listening to my voice, but you’re picking up a much bigger message than a string of words, punctuated by small pauses. You’re also taking in the tone of my voice—how it […]
Read more "A Failure to Communicate"In contrast to all the bad news we’ve heard in headlines recently, there’s been quite a bit of good news in the world of nutrition. Some things previously said to be “bad” for us are getting get-out-of-jail-free cards. For example, early this month, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that drinking coffee is […]
Read more "Song of the Heart"Early this week, as I was preparing the presentation I shared Thursday afternoon at yearly meeting, I discovered a wonderful Quaker writer I’d never heard about before. Her name is Elizabeth Gray Vining. She lived in the last century, and she was a Quaker schoolteacher and author, as well as a clear-sighted, open-hearted and life-long […]
Read more "A New Dream"Well, I’ve had show tunes on my mind this week. It started on the fourth of July, as I remembered my experience in high school when I was the second violin in the pit orchestra of the musical 1776. The year was 1996, and I was a freshman; our country was celebrating the bicentennial. The […]
Read more "Day by Day"So with the arrival of July, we’re moving into high summer. Things just naturally seem to slow down a little when the full heat and humidity of the season arrive. We may still enjoy outdoor activities, but we’re probably strategic about it, pulling weeds in the cool of the morning or taking a walk after […]
Read more "R-e-l-a-x"