Uncategorized Inviting Children Into Silent Worship Quaker worship is rooted in silence and the idea that a) Jesus Christ is present in our gatherings and is able to teach us himself and b) God can and does speak to anyone and through anyone no matter what age you are or how “religious” you appear to be
Blog Entries The Beauty of a Misquote I love misquotes that turn out to be just as thought-provoking as the original quotation. In a way, this kind of misquoted material is similar to a remix that takes the original art and adds one’s own spin on it. Here is an example of one such misquote found
The Cultural Modern Day Parable on Environmentalism (Joel Salatin) Reading in the Christian Century today there was a review of Joel Salatin’s newest book “Mad farmer?” and read this parable from the “Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic,” as Michael Pollan describes in Omnivore’s Dilema. Salatin writes: We have neighbors—I’ll call them Cleve and Matilda—who
Featured On Parables: Give It To Me Slant One of my favorite things about Jesus are his parables. Those of us who have grown up in, or at least around the church, know them well. The Good Shepherd, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, The Workers in the Vineyard, the Mustard Seed, the Wedding Banquet, the Sheep and
Uncategorized Love is The Law of Life – Niebuhr Love is the law of life and not merely some transcendent ideal of perfection. All men may violate the law of life but there is a difference between those who seek to draw all life into themselves,and those who have found in God the centre of existence and through
Uncategorized Romero on Conversion From Oscar Romero: In our preaching to the poor, it is not that we pander to the sins of the poor and ignore the virtues of the rich. Both have sins and both need conversion. But the poor, in their condition of need, are disposed to conversion. They are more
Uncategorized Having More Money Creates More Problems Here’s an interesting infographic based on some studied that have been done about how those who have money act in contrast with those who are poorer. Created by: AccountingDegreeOnline.net Thoughts?
Featured The Little Prince, Children and Receiving the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:13-16) This is the message I gave at Camas Friends Church, June 24, 2012. “People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children
Uncategorized Hello/Goodbye: On Coming, Going and Our Testimonies This is the message I brought to worship on May 13, 2012. If we take human testimony at face value, how much more should we be reassured when God gives testimony as he does here, testifying concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God inwardly confirms God’s
Uncategorized Rodney King & The Images of (In)justice We just learned today that Rodney King was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool on father’s day. King, who himself was a father, is a tragic figure in the landscape of recent American culture. He struggled with addiction, never fully healed from the beatings he received
Uncategorized There Is No Big Red Phone In preparation for me taking paternity leave as soon as #3 arrives (I constantly imagine the baby singing Dylan’s lines “Any day now, any day now, I shall be released) the church has set aside today’s “message” and the next two Sundays’ messages to be led by people
Quotations I Have Only Today (Prayer) This is one of my favorite prayers and one that was brought to my attention again today. My life is an instant, An hour which passes by; My life is a moment Which I have no power to stay. You know, O my God, That to love you here on
Uncategorized What is Born of God? One of my constant “growing edges” in life and faith is the negotiation of what is my responsibility and what is God’s. When I stop and take a look at what is happening around me, and through me, I am often surprised by how much I live as though
Featured Amazon Takes on Quakerism? Some of the Basics* Amazon is one of those companies that’s kind of off-limits for the typical American consumer. I mean, who owns a computer and hasn’t purchased at least one thing from Amazon? I know I have. And who can argue with such a “successful” business model?
Uncategorized Isaac Penington to Elizabeth Walmsley 1670 I’ve often shared quotes from one of my favorite early Quakers, Isaac Penington, here’s a thought from him for the day: Truly the Lord hath done great things for us! He hath given us the sight and knowledge of himself in his Son, which is life eternal: he
Featured The Politics of Scapegoating (John 12:20-33) The politics of Scapegoating or “Scapegoating, Treyvon Martin and Seeds Falling” // The message I gave on March 25, 2012 (John 12:20-33) _Headlines of a Scapegoat There are a lot of things happening that have caught my attention in the news recently: One of the recent news pieces that has
Quotations We Must Awaken to Hope… We must awaken to hope, resisting the temptation to despair that history cannot be any different, that another world is not in fact possible. Here we must remember our sisters Shiphrah and Purah [Hebrew midwives who disobeyed the king of Egypt] and all who have danced defiantly in their footsteps
Poetry They Have Threatened Us With Resurrection (1980) By Julia Esquivel A powerful and challenging poem I came across this week. They Have Threatened Us With Resurrection (1980) by Julia Esquivel; translated by Ann Woehrle It isn’t the noise in the streets that keeps us from resting, my friend, nor is it the shouts of the young people coming out
Blog Entries Historical Dictionary of the Friends (Quakers) Second Edition There’s a new edition of the Historical Dictionary of Friends, which I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to write two articles for: one on convergent Friends and one on Freedom Friends Church. The Dictionary is especially helpful for those working on academic areas of Quakerism, though it
Quotations To Change the World Enough by Alice Walker To change the world enough you must cease to be afraid of the poor. We experience your fear as the least pardonable of humiliations; in the past it has sent us scurrying off daunted and ashamed into the shadows. Now, the world ending the only one all of us have
Uncategorized The Minister’s Work (George Fox) The minister’s work is to go from house to house and warn all both small and great, yea, with tears. This is the word of the ministry in the Spirit – In the Spirit that gave forth the scriptures and so brought people into the life that gave them forth,
Uncategorized If I Had A Hammer (John 2:13-23) This is the message I gave at Camas Friends Church on Sunday March 11, 2012 “The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip
Featured Occupy and Convergent Friends A couple of years ago I had an article published in the Quaker Studies periodical called “Convergent Friends: The Emergence of Postmodern Quakerism” that attempted to identify some of the features of convergent Friends. Convergent Friends is a hybrid Quakerism that attempts draw together the best parts of the Quaker
The Pastorate “On the Harm We Have Done” (A Prayer) Here is a moving prayer confessing the harm that we the church can too often cause: OUR Father, we look back on the years that are gone and shame and sorrow come upon us, for the harm we have done to others rises up in our mem- ory to accuse
Quotations Kierkegaard: Christianity & Sitting Safe and Calm A quote I came across today that helped me make sense of Mark 8:27-37: To want to admire instead of to follow Christ is not necessarily an invention by bad people. No, it is more an invention by those who spinelessly keep themselves detached, who keep themselves at a
