Well, Friends, God has surprised us yet again. Just when we thought all was lost, the world was falling apart, all the goodness we had hoped for and counted on was nailed to a cross; just when everything looked dark and all our best efforts came to nothing, God surprised us. Just when we were […]
Read more "Rise and Shine!"Are you curious about the title of today’s message? I was too, when I started writing it. But I can tell you, now that it is done, it is a message about memory, about finding truth, and about how spirit turns everything to good, even our flaws and mistakes and blind spots. When we learn […]
Read more "Kodachrome"Yesterday was such a beautiful day–it felt like perfection. Warm sun, cool breeze, birds singing everywhere, flowers blossoming, trees greening up, lovely sky—clouds high and wispy against a brilliant blue sky. Don’t you imagine that was just the kind of weather Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden? It wouldn’t have been too […]
Read more "Clothed by God"Friends, we are living through a remarkable time right now. A time ripe for change in a way beyond anything I’ve experienced in my half-century. When I started writing this message, several days ago, I was feeling overwhelmed and sad, tempted to despair. As I finish this message just now, I have hope. I agree […]
Read more "What Canst Thou Say?"We are seeing in our world right now is the very real, life-long, damaging result of us and them thinking. This is the type of thinking that sows seeds of separation, that values one group above another, that believes that power—not peace, not goodness, not love—is the ultimate goal. We know that human nature has […]
Read more "Doing the Honest Work"Wednesday of this past week was Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of the Lent season, the stretch of 40 days leading up Good Friday. Typically, this would be the week I bring a message based on Jesus’ time of trial in the wilderness. And that really is what our message is about today, although […]
Read more "Create in Me a Clean Heart"Greetings on this Ash Wednesday, Friends. We have created a simple daily reflection calendar of much-loved phrases from early Friends’ writings for the season of Lent. Please download and share as you feel so led. Praying for peace, health, love, compassion, unity, and transformation for all beings. http://www.noblesvillefriends.org/reflections-for-lent.php *Post title from a lovely phrase Pope […]
Read more "We, beloved dust of God’s dreams*"I am sure you have noticed this: We are living through an exhausting time. The relentless cycle of news, the rancorous political climate, concerns about our environment, worry about those who struggle, who are in need, who are sick and vulnerable—it’s overwhelming. With all this as the backdrop, we are still doing our best to […]
Read more "A Heart Refreshed"On a scale of 1 to 10, how good would you say you are at forgiveness? Is it easy to let the frustration roll off when someone cuts you off in traffic? What about when a friend makes an insensitive comment? Or a stranger is rude for no reason? Little things like that don’t cause […]
Read more "At Home in the Heart"Last Tuesday night I gave a presentation on the family-centered care at hospice for the folks at the Greenfield Kiwanis Club. The meeting was held in the back of a Ponderosa restaurant and it was just packed in there—there were probably 60 people present. We never did get the technology figured out so the PowerPoint […]
Read more "Confession, Quaker Style"
The Space between the Words 