Author Archive

A Condition Beyond Membership: The Quaker Gifts of Experience, Discipline and Discernment

by Robert Griswold

Being a Quaker has only a little bit to do with becoming a member of a Friends meeting. If we stop growing after being accepted into membership, we have missed the message. Being a Quaker means being on a lifetime-long path. It’s a long road and requires us to commit our whole lives.

George Fox said just before his death, “I’m clear, I’m finally clear” — which didn’t mean that he had finally figured something out. It meant that he had not been called to take up ...

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Manzanar: Forever in the Past?

by Grace Ito Coan


On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the creation of an “exclusion zone” for Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. Manzanar was the first of ten concentration camps built in the interior West to accommodate over 110,000 Japanese Americans forced from their homes by this zone.
This March 21st marks the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at Manzanar, in remote southern California. It closed in November, 1945. As Grace shares below, some Friends did what they could to improve conditions in the camps and ...

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No Cross(word), No Crown

For a little fun, you can print out the crossword puzzle from the March issue and give it a whirl! The answer key is also provided below in a separate PDF.

March crossword puzzle

March puzzle key

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About Western Friend

Western Friend is published by the Friends Bulletin Corporation, an independent 501 (c)(3) non-profit established jointly by Pacific, North Pacific and Intermountain Yearly Meetings.