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The Light, Then v. Now

• Authored by:
• Paul Harris

Earlier this year, I attended a program at Ben Lomond Quaker Center on “Quaker Revival,” led by Paul Buckley. Paul is a Quaker historian and theologian who lives in Cincinnati and is affiliated with Ohio Yearly Meeting. He translated William Penn’s Primitive Christianity Revived into modern English in 2018.

On Separation (November 2019)

A Word from the Lost (review)

• Authored by:
• Jim Anderson

Nayler – this name brings to mind, if not in much detail, the ride into Bristol and the quotation, “There is a spirit that I feel . . .” David Lewis’s book is a fine remedy for this common shortfall in knowledge about James Nayler. It is a brief but remarkably rich account of a Nayler text, Love to the Lost, and its context. Lewis’s book is a theological exploration of Nayler’s writing and much more – including historical, biographical, and political accounts that bring the religious and personal dimensions of Nayler into meaningful connection.

On Mediation (January 2020)

Ulysses (review)

• Authored by:
• Zae Asa Illo

Many Friends are unaware that James Joyce included a Quaker librarian, Lyster, in Ulysses. As the Religious Society of Friends gropes out of its colorless stasis, Ulysses reminds us that Friends carry a cultural presence beyond the confines of minutes, meetings, and social concerns.  Even so, [pullquote]I encourage Friends to read Ulysses not for its utility, but as a brutally honest exploration of our inner condition.[/pullquote]

On Mediation (January 2020)

The Fancy Sunday Hat

• Authored by:
• Elizabeth Boardman

We have one Friend in our Quaker meeting who often comes to worship in a highly-colored and carefully put-together outfit, including an ornate Sunday hat. This is unusual for an unprogrammed meeting.

On Art (March 2020)

Calls to the Annual Sessions 2020

• Authored by:
• Gale Toko-Ross,
• Valerie Ireland,
• Sandy Kewman,
• David Zeiss

June 14-21, 2020; Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO

On Art (March 2020)

Mary Dyer’s Hymn (2nd review)

• Authored 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 a history lesson as well. The benign version of Puritans, which some of us learned in childhood, is overwhelmed by the facts we confront in these poems, as we watch the Puritans hang Mary Dyer and drive other colonists and Native Americans to their deaths.

On Art (March 2020)

Secrets in the Friendly Home

• Authored by:
• Anonymous

I’m getting very tired of this. Sometimes I am afraid of the person I am stuck with in this house during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.

On Secrets (July 2020)

The Face Under The Face

• Authored by:
• Julie Harlow

When I first went to the Soviet Union in 1984, I expected to meet a hospitable people, if not outgoing. The first thing I learned was that Russians never smile. They look grim. They stare. The women especially would often stare at me and then turn away abruptly. In U.S. culture, this could be interpreted as distancing, judgmental, even hostile. It was definitely uncomfortable.

On Secrets (July 2020)

Alice Herz Was Remarkable

• Authored by:
• Sharon Ottenbreit

Dear Editor: I was notified that one of our members, Sam Hays, sent you information about Alice Herz, in response to the poem that Carlos Valentin III wrote about her (“Ten Days,” Jan/Feb 2019) and regarding information I recently discovered in Detroit Friends Meeting’s old files. Sam informed you that Alice was asked to leave the meeting, but I felt the need to let you know that there are more facts about this situation that we may not be able to grasp from the limited data we have. We are making assumptions and probably lack of a true understanding of the situation.

On Secrets (July 2020)

Resisting Empire (review)

• Authored by:
• David Tucker

Revelation is probably most the polarizing book of the Bible. Continually refashioned and remixed to support countless views crossing over from religious to political, Revelation is a text that is tempting to avoid confronting directly.

On Secrets (July 2020)