The thankful season is upon us, as we make our shopping lists and get ready to cook the Thanksgiving feasts that are traditional for our families. Along with our favorite holidays come a big set of familiar expectations. We know who likes cranberry sauce and who doesn’t; who prefers apple pie to pumpkin; which grandchild […]
Read more "A Blessed and Blessing People"In looking through some files this morning (trying to find something for a training I need to facilitate tomorrow), I ran across this reflection written a while back for a memorable hospice patient. This post is dedicated to a gentle Japanese man who was seemingly alone in the world, with no family, no friends, and language and […]
Read more "From All Limits, Free"Early last week I cleaned my 29-gallon aquarium, draining roughly half the water, using a razor blade to scrape the algae off the sides of the tank, replanting the plants that my Plecostomus—who is 17 years old and 10 inches long—continually uproots. I refilled the tank with clean water and scrubbed the filter, repositioned the […]
Read more "A Common Bond"I hope you had an enjoyable Halloween and celebrated it in the way that felt right to you. Some people in recent years have stopped passing out candy—it’s expensive and with COVID there was a chance you could pass along more than Snickers bars. I have never been a big Halloween person myself, but I […]
Read more "The Way of Quaker Saints"Have you ever noticed how many different versions of the world there seem to be? There was the world you left behind for a little while when you slipped off to sleep last night. And the world you woke up to this morning as you stretched and opened your eyes. There’s the world we experience […]
Read more "Remaking the World"Two weeks ago, on a Thursday evening, I did something I’ve never done before; something I’ve always wanted to do. I went to my first pottery class. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I was prepared to look and feel a little silly, because I was a complete beginner. I didn’t know how to […]
Read more "Made of Clay"“That is how life can work, as God created it. We all fit together in a great and beloved community where one person’s gift fits another’s need and so there is no lack, no hunger, no division, no jealousy, no hate… It’s not such a far-fetched idea: all the trees around us are doing it right now. When we let God’s love inspire our actions in the world, our true and soulful colors will begin to show through. Our world can—even now–be transformed.”
Read more "The Measure of Love"The idea for our message this week came when I was having a conversation with a friend at hospice about family patterns. As we talked, all of a sudden I understood some things in my own life differently. It was like someone had flipped a light switch: I thought of the way I was at […]
Read more "Patterns of Light"Good morning! It occurs to me to invite you to listen to our Quaker Morning mini-podcasts, posted each weekday on topics of practical faith and reflective wondering. A Friend at our Quaker meeting calls it a work of “Quaker whimsy.” I love that. 🙂 Each reflection is brief–just 3 or 4 minutes long–so I hope […]
Read more "A Delicious Way to Start the Week :)"It’s so good to have you all with us on World Quaker Day! All over the world just now, on different continents and in different time zones, Quakers are gathering together and celebrating and sharing the essence of the growing faith that animates and unfolds our lives. If you are new to Quakerism, you might […]
Read more "God-with-Us: Stories of Faith"
The Space between the Words 