courage

An interview with Ray Lyall

On Tyranny
Written by Timothy Snyder
Reviewed by Forest Preston III

Dear Editor: A couple of songs come to mind for me now: “This Little Light of Mine” and “Give Me Oil in My Lamp.” It is time to re-consider the complacent comfort zone of our lives up to this point, and rise to the call to live our Light in the world.

Dear Editor: I would like to comment on the book review of The Essential Elias Hicks (May/June 2016). The reviewer has misunderstood the title as indicating that Elias Hicks was himself essential. Rather, the title indicates that the book demonstrates the essence of what Hicks believed and preached. It’s the essence of Hicks, not the opinion that Hicks was essential.

A story about Elizabeth Fry.

Dear Friends: When an angel, according to biblical records, encounters a living human being, the first thing the angel says is. “Fear not!” or “Be not afraid!” or words to that effect.

An angel would be terrifying up close and personal. But listen again. The angel doesn’t say, “Fear me not!” or “Be not afraid of me!” It is a general advice to abandon fear.

I never realized what was going on the moment I let go of the ground. It wasn’t until I was high in the air holding onto God that I saw God was all I had.

For the past five months, I have been living and working in Berlin, Germany. I went there to live with my cousins and their two young children and to work as a native-English-speaking intern at a Kinderladen called Humpty-Dumpty Berlin, a bilingual daycare which my cousins’ children attend. I also helped out around the house and with the kids at home.

We simply can’t always speak out. But there are critical times within Friends’ communities when failing to speak truth can cause great damage. Trying not to offend, trying to maintain a surface calm, can cause a disastrous loss of trust and can betray our commitment to answering the Light in everyone. Often it enables cruel behavior to continue.