Quaker Talk: Only Brief Messages In Meeting?? In the “olden days,” Quaker ministers often preached long & hard. A healthy sampling thereof was taken down, and can be retrieved if one looks hard enough for them. I’m grateful for this mostly neglected lore, as a means of reaching across time, and past the notions cast … Continue reading Quaker Talk: Should Messages In Meeting Be (Very) Brief?
The Appeal of Quakerism to the Non-Mystic Can you be a Quaker in the 21st century (especially a Liberal one), and not be a mystic? Yes. And that’s been true for a LONG time. A century ago, in 1916, a noted British Friend made this case (but he was not the first or the last) … Continue reading The Appeal of Quakerism to The Non-Mystic
Some thoughts on Quaker musician Jon Watts and his interview in the Fifth Month issue of Friends Journal . . . .
If you’ve stopped by this blog in the past ten days or so, you may have seen my lament about being invaded by Zombie posts that refused to die, or be deleted. Here they Come! AArrgghh! A few days ago, when I got some expert help to examine why, it turned out there was some … Continue reading Are Friends Tired? More Conversation With YAFS
I’m going to take up the invitation offered by young Friend Paul Christiansen, in a comment to his article in the Western Friend, “Younger Blood, Older Eyes.” The article opens well: Western Quakers seem tired to me. Those of us on committees feel it most clearly, I think, especially people on Nominating like me: a … Continue reading The Gospel According to YAFS: Are Friends “Tired”?? Plus: Fix It With “The Seven UPs”