Less Like a Utopia and More Like a Crucible

“Community comes as a byproduct of commitment and struggle. It comes when we step forward to right some wrong, to heal some hurt, to give some service. [It] always means the collision of egos. It is less like Utopia than like a crucible or a refiner’s fire. […] Clearly community is a process. […] The core of the Quaker tradition is a way of inward seeking which leads to outward acts of integrity and service. Friends are most in the Spirit when they stand at the crossing point of the inward and outward life. And that is the intersection at which we find community.”

— Parker J. Palmer, 1977
A Place Called Community

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Today’s Invitation

Think about someone in your community who rubs you the wrong way. Make a list of their positive attributes.

Query of the Week

When conflict arises in your community, how do you respond?

If God is in every person, how does that inform your approach to conflict? When have you had a conflict that resulted in deeper trust and connection?

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.

    View all posts