Build Afresh the Fires of Inspiration

“We are a busy people (engaged in arduous occupations, in the work of the world, sometimes losing sight of the higher interests of life). And so we have been getting together every two years among other things to catch fresh inspiration from the look into each other’s faces, to learn from each other what can be done, what is being done, in the various fields of right and elevated effort, and to renew our zeal to build afresh the fires of inspiration.”

— William Birdsall at the 1906 Friends General Conference
Photo: Friends at the Mountain Park Lodge, 1906. Friends General Conference Records, Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.

 

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Today’s Invitation

Set out into the world to be inspired today. Be an explorer looking for something in another person – a gesture, a conversation, an action – that “renews your zeal.” Allow that zeal to refresh you.

Query of the Week

How have your relationships with other people shaped your spirituality?

How does it feel to worship alone? As part of a community?

Author

  • Maeve Sutherland

    Maeve Sutherland is a communications professional who never recovered from her wonderful childhood at a Quaker elementary school. She has spent her career helping nonprofits share their stories, from schools and universities, to museums, to radio stations. As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Maeve spent a year living in “Peaceable Kingdoms,” pacifist intentional communities around the world, where she learned that everyone has a role to play in shaping a better world. She worked as a freelance social media manager before joining Thee Quaker Project. After returning to Quakerism as a young adult, Maeve now attends Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting in Philadelphia.

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