This evening, I read an essay in Friends Journal entitled, “I Beg Your Forgiveness,” by Eden Grace, a seasoned Quaker missionary in East Africa. Eden explained that she felt prompted to ask forgiveness on behalf of her people – Christians – for the ways in which we have not lived up to the faith that we profess. She …
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to …
The last few months have been jam-packed: Full of tasks to be accomplished. Full of worry. Full of demands, deadlines and stress. My life has been so overloaded that oftentimes there has been little room for contemplation. Even when I have taken time to pray, my heart has often not been engaged. I know intellectually …
The days are growing very short now, as we get closer to Christmas. The day that Christians celebrate the birth of our Savior is nearly the shortest day of the year for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. We choose the darkest day to remember how the True Light came into the world to …
We all enjoy warm feelings and positive emotions; but we should not confuse these things for love. Love goes far deeper than affection or desire. Love does not affirm us when we do wrong. Love does not overlook our selfishness, cowardice and hatred. Love challenges us – firmly, persistently – to be transformed. A parent who …
Since the Occupy movement began almost two months ago, we have been under steady pressure. From the beginning, in New York, we suffered unprovoked violence on the part of the police. In recent days, these attacks have only increased in severity as the Occupation spreads across the country. The good news is, the attempts to …
I think about emergence a lot. To emerge means new life and vitality; fragility and tenderness; new perspectives and openness. Emerging means transformation: of body, mind, spirit and community. The call to emerge is at the heart of our life as spiritual creatures. Emergence recognizes that there is a problem; to emerge, we must emerge …