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The Media of Ministry

A familiar scene: Bright morning sunlight streams in through the glass of paint-chipped windows of a Friends’ meetinghouse, a simple room filled with wooden benches and quiet people. Someone rises to speak, trembling under the weight of God’s message, embodying our long-standing nickname, “Quaker.” Then the speaker’s words set off a wave of smirking and eye-rolling: “I read in the New York Times this morning . . .” And we wonder, did this Friend really receive a message from the Inner Light about the opinion pages? Are they maybe a bit too fond of their own voice? A bit too fixated on their favorite world issue?

On Media (September 2016)

How Are Friends Helping?

Dear Friends: We would like to survey Friends meetings of Pacific Yearly Meeting in California to find out how these meetings are serving and helping their communities.

On Beginning (March 2016)

How Can We Keep From Singing?

When I sing with Friends who sing, I find my way to the same still small place that I reach in a mostly silent Meeting for Worship.

Vocation (April 2025)

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (review)

I can almost guarantee that there will be some parts of this book that you won’t like. This is especially true of the agricultural policies Bill Gates promotes and his advocacy of nuclear power to generate electricity. You may be, as I am, appalled by his great wealth. As Bernie Sanders says, it is obscene. But this book is so valuable that I ask you to look past those difficulties and see within Bill Gates a person with That of God within him. His philanthropic work shows that he listens to that Voice. It has given him a heart for the poor. An essential part of his plan is to encourage economic growth in poor countries. “It would be immoral and impractical to try to stop people who are lower on the economic ladder from climbing up.” Economic development in these countries would increase greenhouse gas emissions. That is part of the reason Gates sees innovation as essential.

On Conflict (January 2023)

How to Sell a Quaker

Though I am currently a sophomore at Haverford College, I can remember the college application process as if it were yesterday, especially the late nights writing essays that were attempts to sell myself to schools that were trying to sell themselves to me.  They wanted my money; I wanted their education (and a hefty side of financial aid).  The entire process was a lengthy and tiring ordeal for my whole family.

On Deception (November 2013)

How We Came to Ben Lomond

On Sunday morning, August 4th, 2019, Susan Wilson and I left our home in Central Vermont.  We had filled a twenty-foot rental truck with our possessions, hitched our car to the back of the truck, and started driving toward California. We were leaving behind our beloved friends and family, our lovely home, and the magic of the Green Mountains.

On Separation (November 2019)

How Stillness Helped Me Find New Paths

When life again decides to challenge my equanimity, I will be in a better place to navigate change.

Vocation (April 2025)