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The Light Within, Then And Now - Review

• Authored by:
• Jay Thatcher

Rex Ambler is a British theologian, teacher, and writer. In several previous small volumes, he has made major contributions to Friends’ theology (for example, The End of Words) and spirituality (Light To Live By). The Light Within: Then and Now (Pendle Hill Pamphlet 425, 2013) extends that precedent.

On Difference (July 2015)

Building a Moral Economy from the Ground Up

• Authored by:
• David Henkel

Whether entailing the use of money or other resources, economic transactions allow us the means of subsistence just as they tempt us to excess. It would do us well to remember that the etymological origins of the word “economy” are from the Greek meaning of “managing the household.” A moral economy would be one that manages the “household” of our planet to emphasize mutual care, community health, and a society of sufficiency and sustainability.

On Money (November 2015)

Money, that Tainted Thing

• Authored by:
• Joseph Snyder

As Friends and as a people of faith, we walk a narrow tightrope between using wealth as a means to bring light and life into the world and allowing it to become a snare. The snare can draw us into a prison of world and wealth centeredness, or can trap us into such self-imposed poverty that we rely on the wealth of others to live. Friends at the beginning of the 21st century would do well to examine how we maintain a healthy relationship with wealth. Almost all of our national and international Quaker organizations are reducing their staffs due to lack of funds and, consequently, limiting their effectiveness. Many of our meetings are deferring maintenance of meetinghouses and finding it difficult to give financial support to members in need.

On Money (November 2015)

Public Banking – Friendly Values

• Authored by:
• Nichoe Lichen

Quakers introduced public banking to the original colony of Pennsylvania, helping the colony prosper. North Dakota created its public bank in 1919, and is currently the only state to own its own bank. There are public banking efforts in more than thirty states, many of them in the west (Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and my own State of New Mexico).

On Money (November 2015)

Bolivian Becas Give

• Authored by:
• Nancy Marshall

Dear Friends: This year my meeting, Phoenix Monthly Meeting, decided to sponsor a Bolivian university student for three years, at $750 per year, through the Bolivian Quaker Education Fund. (See bqef.org .) This decision came after we seasoned the idea in our Peace and Social Concerns Committee and with interest from our First Day School. This expenditure – of an annual “beca” or scholarship – is now the largest item in our budget, other than property expenses.

On Countries (January 2016)

A Courageous Step

• Authored by:
• Maren Sinclair Hurn

My mother, Clare Sinclair, chose to stop eating and drinking at the age of 92. She died nine days later. Her whole life had led up to this courageous step – a life full of optimism, deep feelings, adventure, and stubbornness.

On Beginning (March 2016)

Friendly Advertisements

• Authored by:
• Larry Spears

Dear Friends: Advertisers in Western Friend need your reader support. They pay for ads to support Western Friend and to bring opportunities to your attention.

On Limits (May 2016)

No Tengas Miedo

• Authored by:
• Sister Confianza del Señor

Dear Editor: We just received the March-April issue of Western Friend, “On Beginnings.” Thanks for including my “recipe” for peanut butter cookies! One clarification: Multnomah Meeting does not “support” Amigas del Señor in any financial or legal way. Rather, we “spiritually share in a Covenant of Caring.” It is a promise to stay in touch and hold one another in the Light.

On Limits (May 2016)

On Flesh

• Authored by:
• Mary Klein

Dear Friends: Back to basics.

On Flesh (November 2016)

The Demise of American Democracy – Review

• Authored by:
• Linda Seger

Bill Durland is one of our Quaker treasures. His vast knowledge in the fields of politics, theology, economics. philosophy, and government inform his new book, The Demise of American Democracy: Explaining the Crisis and What to Do about It. The book is further enriched by Durland’s personal stories, including seminal childhood events that led to his awakening to injustices, his time in the Virginia Legislature working for social justice, and his time as a Catholic and a Quaker.

On Flesh (November 2016)