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Persistence

• Authored by:
• Tom Ewell

Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a major military base on the island where I live. One of the noisiest planes in the world is stationed here, the EA-18G Growler. When deployed during bombing missions, the Growler works from an aircraft carrier deck and provides electronic jamming of enemy radar. While stationed on Whidbey, Growler pilots practice their maneuvers for landing on aircraft carriers. This practice involves multiple approaches to a small landing strip in central Whidbey, where the planes do touch-and-go exercises, sometimes for hours at a time, both night and day.

On Conflict (January 2023)

Peace – One Yard at a Time

• Authored by:
• Sandy Feutz

Gila Friends Meeting reactivated our Peace and Social Concerns Committee a couple of years ago, after several years of inaction. Many “social concerns” had begun attracting our attention, and we wanted to act on them. Then during one of our committee meetings, someone asked about the “peace” part of our mission. What would we do about “peace”? And thus, it began.

On Conflict (January 2023)

The Perception of the Heart

• Authored by:
• Laurie Lange

In our highly commercial world, the way we think of the heart’s emotional capacity is mostly limited to its role in romantic love. As wonderful as romance can be, this trivializes the heart. The heart is an organ of perception. It’s where we go to make sense of feeling states we can’t quite pin down, try as we might to encapsulate them in words.

On Perception (March 2023)

Singing in Rattlesnake Fields

• Authored by:
• Rudiger Herzing Ruckmann

 

On Perception (March 2023)

White Light

• Authored by:
• Jonathan Stoll

 

On Perception (March 2023)

Quakers, Yemen, and Ukraine

• Authored by:
• Stephen Adams

 

On Perception (March 2023)

Beyond Linear Thinking (review)

• Authored by:
• Cathleen Loeser

Beyond Linear Thinking (2022) is a page-turner in which Linda Seger uses humor, spiritual wisdom, and practical advice, supported by scientific research, to describe ways of moving beyond linear, competitive, hierarchical, patriarchal thinking – toward cooperation, equality, and diversity. I love the metaphors of line, circle, spiral, and web that she uses to explore these different thinking models. I also like her repetition of this point: holding a goal larger than the self is one way to avoid the pitfalls of pride and the pettiness of hierarchy.

On Perception (March 2023)

The Man in the Dog Park (review)

• Authored by:
• Marybeth Webster

One day in 1982, I realized I was homeless. I didn’t own a single key! No house, no car, no bank box. I had just flown to Los Angeles from Hawaii after selling my business. I tried to rent a car. I was refused for lack of an address! But I had a rather large bank balance, academic degrees, a good vocabulary, the confidence of the educated middle class, and a trustworthy smile. The car rental clerk let me use my Timex as collateral and gave me a car.

On Loss (May 2023)

Global Blue-Green Zone for COP28

• Authored by:
• Frank Granshaw

Despite its significant limitations, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the principal setting for the international community to gather and confront our catastrophically destabilizing global climate. As the need for ambitious action from governments becomes more urgent, broader public engagement with the UNFCCC also becomes more urgent. Grassroots involvement is critical for assuring that negotiations are both effective and equitable.

On Dignity (July 2023)

Radical Welcome

• Authored by:
• Linnea Wang

It was curiosity to see if there were still people called Quakers that brought me to my first meeting at Frank and Jeanine Walker’s home on McLeod Avenue. It was radical welcome that kept me coming.

On Dignity (July 2023)