March 2011
Lonnie Valentine: Want Leadership? Develop... →
I see the problem as one of “followership.” Those who see themselves or are seen as followers are thought of as less worthy than leaders. So, everyone wants to be a leader and no one wants to…
February 2011
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First time attender: The Weirdest Thing I Have... →
For my field assignment I ventured to the land of Quakers. At first to be quite honest I thought that the Quaker religion was very much like Amish and expected it and the people to be very strict;…
Robin M: Faithful Betrayal →
First is that we have to examine the taboos that we have inherited, like we can’t talk about X topic, or with those people (insert your favorite here)…Second is that the way we do business, or…
Johan Mauer on people power and saying "no" →
But maybe you can’t say “yes” without sometimes saying “no.” When God’s promises seem blocked by idolatry, greed, addiction, or fear, we have to take the risk of saying no, even though it might not…
The Click Heard Round the World: Quakers,... →
My experience of Quakers has been of a people who are largely, and proudly, divorced from popular culture. While these sorts of disconnections from common culture might make us smarter, perhaps…
Jon Berry interviews Brent Bill on spiritual... →
When I researched Sacred Compass, I asked friends about their spiritual experiences. One person talked about God speaking to her through housecleaning; she hates housecleaning so much, God must…
“The bottom-line question is, “Why?” Why would McDonald’s, which appears every...”
– Mark Bittman, in How to Make Oatmeal … Wrong
Micah Bales: There is Power in the Name →
Many today have come to believe that Jesus is merely a historical figure - a time-bound prophet, like Moses or John the Baptist. Many good people today believe that “Christ” is just a word, a label…
Micah Bales: The Grass Grows Beneath the Snow →
In recent years, there has been a remarkable emergence of new worship groups and Meetings that embody the creative edge of the Friends tradition: Freedom Friends Church in Salem, Oregon; New City…
Chronicler: Using Vocal Ministry to Meddle →
His ministry had been based on information, not inspiration. Since then, I have seen this Friend a few times, and his attempt to influence our meeting comes to my mind every time. This blog post…
Photos, videos and eyewitness reports from the... →
Karla Moran: Patterns and Examples in Indianapolis →
Our vision is to see a true Quaker church that resembles Jesus’ teachings. We know that Jesus came to give freedom (Luke 4:18) and life (John 10:10). We want to be light among darkness and to let…
Vatican rules that Massachusetts church must... →
ADAMS — The sun shone on St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church on Tuesday, as news of a Vatican ruling that could re-open the Wlodyka Square church spread quickly through this town’s tight-knit Polish community.
Celebratory church bells rang out as the front doors to St. Stan’s, as locals refer to their beloved church, were flung open and brilliant light flooded the...
Lisa H: Quakers and Remix Culture →
It strikes me that Quakers are actually quite well-practiced at remix culture. Ever since George Fox wrote that “this I knew experimentally”, we have been challenged to integrate spiritual messages…
Brad Ogilvie: Inreach, Outreach and Quakerism →
When I hear about “revitalization”, I think it would be helpful for us to also consider what inspires us and excites us about how the world could be that flows from our passions for our beliefs….
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Quaker Worship Sharing and Rachel Davis DuBois'... →
A pioneering educator and Friend from South Jersey, she apparently developed a precursor to modern Quaker worship sharing:
After 1941, a greater effort was made my Dr. DuBois and her associates to involve adults and teachers in the programs of the Workshop. A “new social invention” called the “Neighborhood Home Festival” or “Group Conversation” technique was developed, which became the...
Egypt’s Autocrats Exploited Internet’s Weaknesses... →
But quickly lost in the swirl of revolution was the government’s ferocious counterattack, a dark achievement that many had thought impossible in the age of global connectedness. In a span of minutes just after midnight on Jan. 28, a technologically advanced, densely wired country with more than 20 million people online was essentially severed from the global Internet.
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Secret Coke recipe
Via This American Life. I have to say it doesn’t look all that surprising except for the Neroli oil, something I never heard of. Wikipedia says it’s a bitter orange citrus. So hit your spice drawer and whip up some Coca Cola homebrew.
Fluid extract of coca
Citric acid
Caffeine
Sugar
Water
Lime juice
Vanilla
Caramel
Alcohol
Orange oil
Lemon oil
Nutmeg oil
Coriander oil
...
"More Shame on the Church" →
The NYTimes weighs in on the latest horrific revelations of Philadelphia Archdiocesan cover-ups and stonewalling:
The recent grand jury said it had no doubt that the scale of the crimes and the extent of the official cover-up went far beyond the cases of sodomy and rape it documented in horrifying detail. It cited continued institutional weaknesses that allowed such crimes to go undetected or...
“The youth of the Muslim Brotherhood played a really big role. But actually so...”
– Ahmed Maher, a 30-year-old civil engineer and a leading organizer of the April 6 Youth Movement, in the NYTimes.
Soccer hooliganism as defender of freedom? It’s kind of cool.
“For their part, Mr. Maher and his colleagues began reading about nonviolent...”
– Egyptians and Tunisians Collaborated to Shake Arab History - NYTimes.com
[Western Friend] Quaker Bloggers in the West →
This special issue of Western Friend focuses on lifting up the written ministry of Quaker bloggers in the West! As such, almost all of the content of this issue is available online. Tags: …
Luis Pizarro: Sharing the Good News in Spain →
Our project to create a Quaker Christian worship group in Seville, Spain, has emerged in this complex context. While I believe that Liberal Quakerism could certainly be successful in Spain, and in…
[Press of Atlantic City] Holy Family Catholic... →
Holy Family School in Ventnor will close at the end of this school year… and angry parents were threatening to boycott collections or go to a different church in protest. “It’s like chasing down…
Steven Davision: The gospel of Jesus as an... →
The good news is that the gospel of Jesus is, at its very heart, an economic message. Jesus defined his role as “the Christ” in specifically economic terms. To see this, though, you have to let go…
Micah Bales: Preparing for the Harvest →
In both the revivalism of the late 1800s and the New Meetings Movement of the mid-1900s, we see cases in which growth outran the capacity of seasoned ministry, eldership and oversight to care for…
Curious George TV show theme song →
Of popular interest around the house these days….
Quakers urge change to armed forces age of... →
On the Anniversary of the UN Optional Protocol on the Rights of the Child, Quakers in Britain are calling for Parliament to amend the Armed Forces Bill so as to raise the age of enlistment. Tags:
Micah Bales: Is Meeting "a place for good people... →
The kids who remained part of the Meeting’s youth group tended to be ones who struggled to find their place in other areas of their lives. Through a set of shared rituals - jazz hands, cuddle…
“I told him Caesar was getting too much around here and some one had to stand up...”
– Ammon Hennacy as quoted in the Wikipedia article on “Render unto Caesar…” (Matthew 22 was the 2/2 reading in the One Year Bible plan)
Tom Hoopes: Young Families and Quakerism: Will the... →
Young families need Quakerism, and Quakerism needs young families. Where does the Religious Society of Friends stand in relation to today’s “beleaguered moms and dads”? To the extent that Quaker…
“[The] interview with Mr. Suleiman followed a meeting with Mr. Mubarak, who is...”
– Latest Updates on Day 11 of Egypt Protests - NYTimes.com
[Courier Post] Malaga parishioners keep vigil:... →
It was Jan. 3 when perhaps divine intervention left a door unlocked, allowing a group of the faithful inside. Catholics aren’t the only ones who have participated in the vigil. Protestants and Jews…
Jay Marshall: What does "leadership" mean to you? →
While it is true that leadership can be a troubling concept for Friends, I have come to believe that we should move beyond our old hesitations. We would benefit from fussing less about the things…
Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist... →
Beautifully-designed site—drop-down menus are esp cool. Tags: design