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Ubuntu Call to Cherish Creation

Authored by: Tim Gee
Dear Friends: I began this year as an online participant at Southern Africa Yearly Meeting, where we explored the depths of meaning in the word ubuntu. I had some prior familiarity with the word, especially thanks to the writings of anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu. This event, though, gave me a more specifically Quaker insight into the profound way ubuntu is practiced by Friends in Southern Africa and beyond.  
On Loss (May 2023)

Spiritually Clean – A Social Laundromat Ministry

Authored by: Zae Asa Illo
For a few years, San Francisco Quaker meeting has been meeting Christ outside its doors, literally. The voiceless, forgotten, and politically marginalized gather outside our building to seek refuge. We welcome them to service on Sundays, make sandwiches and food, and charge their phones on Fridays, and that’s all needed. Another quiet ministry is the washing of laundry – which a few Friends take back to their places to wash and return.
On Dignity (July 2023)

Dignity and Civic Life

Authored by: Kevan Insko
We can envision a universal parameter of dignity for individuals: Each person is owed fundamental respect simply by virtue of being human. We can also appreciate the importance of ensuring dignified treatment of the myriad of groups that comprise our society, and in particular, those that have been exploited, marginalized, and disempowered. For Friends, the importance of human dignity rests on a strong spiritual basis:
On Dignity (July 2023)

What Friends Bring to Politics

Authored by: Kate McClellan

A few other Oregon Quakers and I were in an online book group. We read We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People’s Campaign. This book consists of fifty-three essays, each just two or three pages long, each including Scriptural references. It’s by and for people who are working towards more dignity for poor people – by challenging the ways that our institutions keep people in poverty. This book makes one thing clear to me – local government policies and actions have been major drivers of economic inequity throughout the history of our nation, especially in terms of housing inequality. It also seems clear to me that this level of democracy – the local level – is a critical place for us to work to make a positive impact on these issues.

On Dignity (July 2023)

The U.S., Russia, and China

Authored by: David Hartsough
Dear Friends: The United States, Russia and China are closer to nuclear war than at any time since the Cuba Missile crisis in 1962. If there is a full-scale nuclear war, billions of people will be killed immediately and whole cities destroyed and the debris in the atmosphere would lead to nuclear winter in which over seven billion people would die of starvation.
On Dignity (July 2023)

Wellspring of Quaker Life

Authored by: John Cowan
Friends: In reviewing the work done by many of us, both teachers and students, across a wide variety of truly marvelous classes, none covered what I consider the heart and soul of Quakerism – and that is sitting in silence, either in a group or alone contemplating our self, seeking personal change.
On Dignity (July 2023)

On Dignity

Authored by: Mary Klein
In meeting for worship on the occasion of heaven, we love to see everyone acting exactly like themselves. When we meet on the occasions of daily life, we often can’t quite remember where our true selves are. It’s a gift of grace to be in your right body, in your right mind, at the right place and time. And it’s a gift of grace to be in a community that encourages you to play your part for the truth, rather than for approval.
On Dignity (July 2023)

On Healers

Authored by: Mary Klein
By their nature, living creatures seek nourishment and try to avoid pain. Each one of us comes up with our own strategies here. Most of us start with “The Way of My People.” After that, each of us comes up with our own odd twists on how we do things.
On Healers (September 2023)