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Racism & Militarism in U.S. Foreign Policy

Dear Friends: I want to highly recommend a new discussion paper, “Dismantling Racism and Militarism in U.S. Foreign Policy,” recently published by the Friends Committee on National Legislation. It does an excellent job challenging the present paradigm of Racism and Militarism in the U.S., shares a possible new paradigm, and explores how we can get from here to there.

On Conflict (January 2023)

Sacred Decisions (review)

Sacred Decisions provides a case and framework for consensus decision-making in faith contexts – explaining the reasoning, providing tips, and filling out the picture with some case studies. It’s an interesting read for anyone committed to shared power in decision making and a good resource for newly forming groups that are deciding which method to use, as well as for established groups that are interested in moving from majority rule to a different model.

On Conflict (January 2023)

The Winter Rose (review)

Melanie Dobson displays great skill in this piece of historical fiction, The Winter Rose (2022). Most of the story takes place during World War II and the postwar era, but it also leaps forward to 2003, when some of the characters are portrayed in matured aspects and in new settings. Dobson displays a firm understanding of the coping behaviors and resilience of traumatized children. All of the characters in this book are drawn with incredible depth, as are descriptions of Quaker experience.

On Perception (March 2023)

Pieces and Patterns

The man I married, physicist Daryl Reagan, was a skeptic. It gave him an endearing humility. He loved explaining physics to me. When he used his brakes, which produced heat by friction, he explained entropy. He told how eventually all energy would be dull heat energy, a heat death of the universe.

On Perception (March 2023)

What I’ve Been Trying to Say

I believe that we may – likely do – have new Friends, especially young Friends and Friends who live isolated or far away, schooled by the pandemic years, who have never attended a Quaker meeting for worship in person, but only online. Rather than simply rejoice that they found us at all, we need to invite such newcomers to attend meeting for worship somewhere, sometime, in person.

On Loss (May 2023)