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Tax Season

Dear Friends: April is the season for pondering the U.S. income tax system and the fact that about half our tax dollars are used to support the Department of Defense, even when the US is not engaged in any major conflict in the world. 

On Time (March 2014)

A Small Steadying Sail of Love - Review

A Small Steadying Sail of Love by Nancy Gibbs Richard

On Power (March 2013)

Simplicity and Our Complex Economy

Simplicity runs in opposition to modern life.  Thousands of people, and potentially hundreds of companies, are involved in the production, distribution, and sale of something as simple as a pencil or a cup of coffee – to say nothing of a pair of sneakers, a movie, or a car, or providing a service like a mutual fund or a night in a hotel room. 

On Production (May 2014)

Summer Camps that Made a Difference

It was summer camp, but it sounded serious. Quaker Work Camp was a whole month of work and study. The camp sounded serious, but the campers made it fun.

On Production (May 2014)

Walk Against Fracking to Friends General Conference

Dear Friends: The FGC Gathering this year (6/29 –7/5) will be conveniently located near Appalachia, Ohio, and the headquarters of PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. PNC is the #1 funder of fracking in Pennsylvania. Ohio is an important state for PNC in terms of its depositors.

On Production (May 2014)

Calls to The Annual Sessions 2014 - Abridged

What do we have to offer as Quakers in these challenging times? Intermountain Yearly Meeting June 8 -15, 2014; Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico

On Production (May 2014)

Call to PYM Annual Session 2014 - Unabridged

Call to the Annual Gathering of Pacific Yearly Meeting, 2014 Youth and Prophecy: Awakening to a New Creation July 14 – 19, 2014; Walker Creek Ranch, Petaluma California

On Production (May 2014)

Ego, Imagination, Condition, and Light

Friends use the word Light a lot.  They use it as a metaphor to point towards an experience.  But Friends use this basic expression so casually that I fear it has become conventional and trivial. We don’t much think about what the Light (as experience) means or where it comes from or why we need it. Nor are we aware of how we got into the dark in the first place. Like many metaphors, Light is better understood when it is placed in a context. My experience is that ego, imagination, and condition are factors that provide a helpful context for considering the Light.

On Pride (July 2014)

Making Something of Myself

Gary Miller helped found the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club in 1971 and served as its president in 1975. He was the first openly gay person to serve as the chair of the Sacramento Democratic Party and was Sacramento’s first openly gay human rights commissioner. As a staff person in the 1970s with Friends Committee on Legislation in California, Miller worked to defeat Proposition 6, the Briggs Initiative, which would have banned gays, lesbians, and their supporters from working in California public schools. Miller is a member of Sacramento Friends Meeting (PYM). He spoke to Western Friend by phone on June 18, 2014. Following are edited excerpts from a transcript of that interview.

On Pride (July 2014)