Articles

Simplicity does not mean that all conform to uniform standards. . .  The call to each is to abandon those things that clutter his life and to press toward the goal unhampered. This is true simplicity. Friends are watchful to keep themselves free from self-indulgent habits, luxurious ways of living and the bondage of fashion. . . But this does not mean that all life is to be poor and bare, destitute of joy and beauty. . . Simplicity, when it removes encumbering details, makes for beauty in... Read more.

I love to quote Frank Zappa on this, “Your life is a ribbon of time that you get to decorate.” Early Friends were rightly wary of decoration. They dissented from “high church” practices of pomp and circumstance, oratory and argumentation, frankincense and anointing oils. They were rightly wary of self-proclaimed prophets, state-funded theocrats, and peddlers of political revolutions and snake oil. In probably the first written expression of Quaker faith and... Read more.

Mary Dyer’s Hymn and other Quaker Poems
written by Stanford Searl
reiewed by Anita Hemphill McCormick

As ever, Stan Searl’s poems are a glory, a pleasure, and an incantation, whether he hymns in praise of God or records one man’s heartfelt, sometimes agonizing love for his child. This volume, however, goes further and is... Read more.

Mary Dyer’s Hymn and other Quaker Poems
written by Stanford Searl
reiewed by Donald W. McCormick

In this book, Stanford Searl writes about four Quaker martyrs who were hanged in 1659 and 1660, and about those Friends’ persecutors and other New Englanders of that time, including Searl’s ancestor Richard Waterman. Searl... Read more.

Several years ago, a co-worker gave me a little book entitled Things I Learned about God from Quilting. I laughed, and thought I could have written this book. So, here are a few of the things I’ve learned and a story or two.

At North Seattle Friends, I direct the church’s quilting ministries. In the Stone Soup Quilting Ministry, our... Read more.

Dear Friends:

We hold you in our hearts as our next conference takes shape! We will be gathering June 24-28, 2020, at the beautiful Cascades Camp, near Yelm, WA. Our theme will be “Cultivating Faith and Hope in Troubled Times.” The conference will be a nurturing environment where we can wrestle with hard stuff, and maybe practice new tools for community. We will be using “Pay as Led” to provide an opportunity for shared financial responsibility among all conference attenders. Online... Read more.