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Irony’s a Bitch

• Authored by:
• Gabe Kittle

I lay on the cold dusty hard wood floor contemplating the voice of my generation, visions of rebellion sex drugs protest and poetry

On Deception (November 2013)

Healing Our Nation’s Oldest Wounds

• Authored by:
• Paula Palmer

As I write this in late November 2013, Americans across the country are gathering together in their homes to give thanks. In southeastern Colorado, Cheyenne and Arapaho people are gathering together, too, but for a different reason. This week marks the 149th anniversary of the massacre at Sand Creek, where on November 29, 1864, the U.S. Cavalry murdered approximately 200 unarmed Cheyenne and Arapaho women, children, and elders who were supposed to be under their protection. After the massacre, volunteer soldiers paraded through the streets of Denver, waving body parts carved from the victims’ corpses. No one knows exactly how many people died at Sand Creek that day, because the survivors were prevented from returning to mourn and bury their dead. Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors would fight back for more than a decade, but eventually their peoples were banished from Colorado. Today, their descendants live on reservations in Montana, Wyoming, and Oklahoma. 

On Patriotism (January 2014)

The Cadbury Family, The Sweet Smell of Success - Review

• Authored by:
• Donald W. McCormick

Written by Peri Muldofsky

On Production (May 2014)

Resisting the Temptation to Polarize

• Authored by:
• Margery Post Abbott

I want to start with a story of a “popcorn meeting.” This is a type of Meeting for Worship that most Friends dread – full of distractions and superficial messages – including messages that are purely political, purely personal, or even incomprehensible – messages that actually seem to block us from finding a deeper Unity together.

On Temptation (November 2014)

Meeting for Worship

• Authored by:
• Helen Bruner

 

On Knowing (March 2015)

SPICES and Human Population Growth

• Authored by:
• Richard Grossman

Friends are not known for large families. However, it is my experience that many members of the Religious Society of Friends are like most people in the USA – we are generally unaware of the connections between what we hold dear and the growing number of people in the world. Human population growth is an “elephant in the room,” which we typically avoid or ignore.

On Needs (May 2015)

Those Other Quakers

• Authored by:
• D. Pablo Stanfield

The majority of liberal Friends in the West share similar traits: First, very few of us grew up among Quakers; we arrived as adults, often fleeing dogmas or religious paths that we now reject. Second, many of us feel a sense of “homecoming” in Friendly traditions like our Peace Testimony, silent expectant worship, and the general spirit of tolerance in our meetings.

On Difference (July 2015)

The Abundant Benefits of Play

• Authored by:
• Patricia Morrison

Play is one of the most lauded – yet undervalued – parts of our lives. In the work I do with artists and creative professionals, I help each person develop or revive a practice of regular play. I have seen these practices transform people’s relationships, increase their incomes, and improve their abilities to give their gifts to the world while staying healthy and grounded. Yet even though I continually encourage others to play more, I often find myself surprised by the power of play to restore my own calm, compassion, and creativity.

On Play (September 2015)

Voluntary Poverty Has to Be a Choice

• Authored by:
• Kyle Chandler-Isacksen

I have read quite a few articles recently about “green” living, reducing footprints, and sustainability. None of them have mentioned one of the greatest ways of creating positive change in the world. Voluntary poverty is a far more fundamental and effective way to decrease consumption and impact, while increasing human connection and improving life all around. Our family of four lives on about $7000 a year, and our lives are more enjoyable, fuller, richer, healthier, and more interesting to us than the life we see being lived in the mainstream economy. This is nothing new of course; sages and mystics have been sharing the joys of voluntary poverty and simplicity for eons. But voluntary poverty is rarely seen as a positive lifestyle choice in modern-day America.

On Money (November 2015)

Endless Beginning

• Authored by:
• john heid

“In the beginning . . . ” This phrase opens both Genesis – the first book of the Bible – and the Gospel of John. To say, “Let’s begin at the beginning,” is to say “Okay, let’s get to the heart of the matter, let’s get to the root of this.”

On Beginning (March 2016)