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Weighty Friends and Quaker Pharisees

Wouldst thou be a prophet, or perhaps a saint? Alas, he who thinks he is, most likely aint.                 William Bacon Evans (1875-1964), Quaker writer and weighty Friend.

On Power (March 2013)

On Production

After frolicking around The Garden all morning, Adam and Eve were starving. They filled their bellies with the fruit of The Tree, and it gave them such a headache! The knowledge of good and evil throbs in the ever-branching tangle of nerves that is the human brain. And the Tree of Good and Evil produces both kinds of fruit.

On Production (May 2014)

Ego, Imagination, Condition, and Light

Friends use the word Light a lot.  They use it as a metaphor to point towards an experience.  But Friends use this basic expression so casually that I fear it has become conventional and trivial. We don’t much think about what the Light (as experience) means or where it comes from or why we need it. Nor are we aware of how we got into the dark in the first place. Like many metaphors, Light is better understood when it is placed in a context. My experience is that ego, imagination, and condition are factors that provide a helpful context for considering the Light.

On Pride (July 2014)

A Science of Quaker Practice

I have explored a lot of Quaker writings, and I also enjoy participating in Quaker practices such as silent worship, worship sharing, and business meetings (yes, those too). At the same time, as a person with a science background, I often find myself exploring books on neuroscience, evolution, and related topics, and I try to sort out how our Quaker ways relate to current findings by scientists in such fields. I see at least four human abilities under scientific research that relate to our Quaker practices:

On Flesh (November 2016)

Generations of Technologies and Quakers

We are in a liminal period, a transitional time between the information technology and the artificial intelligence.

On Tech (July 2024)

On Prayer

The Religious Society of Friends is a religion, not a political project.

On Prayer (March 2024)