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Fresh

Authored by: Judith Favor
Dear Editor: In appreciation for the May/June theme, “On Limits,” and each writer’s thoughtful response, I offer fresh words penned by Naomi Shihab Nye, a poetic expression of limits. She gives you her permission to publish this poem.
On Heritage (July 2016)

Simple Foods, More on

Authored by: Sally Kingsland
Dear Editor: I write in response to “Rich People Won’t Eat It” by Jane Snyder. Modern Quakers in the communities I am familiar with (PYM and Australia YM) have a wide range of dietary needs and preferences – probably much wider than the general population. I posit that, far from joining modern fads, Quakers are actually ahead of the wider society in tuning into our bodies. We are (or were, and hopefully are returning to be) a somatic religion, which means we tune in to our bodies. Food intolerance can arise not just from medical issues, such as being celiac, but also as a result of trauma and environmental sensitivities, which highlight the plight of our earth. Others make careful choices on what they eat from deeply held ethical positions.
On Heritage (July 2016)

On Heritage

Authored by: Mary Klein
Choose life: It’s a good rule of thumb. But the life I have inherited is one that’s built on killing. While I’m safely minding my own business (in a wealthy suburb in the richest nation that’s ever existed), killing and the threat of killing are adding to the wealth of the nation I live in. Killing and the threat of killing are holding the line between who has access to resources and who does not. Who ends up on which side of that line is based on no good reason. Rather, it is rote tradition that allows arbitrary distinctions between groups of people to be used to enhance the resources of some and limit the resources of others. No matter how convincingly such traditions are sanctified and rationalized, they remain fundamentally arbitrary and morally dead.
On Heritage (July 2016)

Universal Access to All Knowledge

Authored by: Jesse Bell
Thanks to a grant from San Diego Friends Meeting, Western Friend was able to hire the Internet Archive to produce electronic copies of virtually all issues of Western Friend and its predecessor publication, Friends Bulletin, going back to 1929. Those documents can now be found at: archive.org/details/westernfriend, and they will also be available on the Western Friend website soon.
On Media (September 2016)

On Media

Authored by: Mary Klein
Immersed in stories as humans are – print, radio, television, internet, social media, interactive gaming, virtual reality – we can easily lose sight of truth. Especially when a story fills our imagination with images we dearly want to believe in, we can feel reluctant to break the story’s spell.
On Media (September 2016)

A Science of Quaker Practice

Authored by: Rick Ells
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)