How does a caterpillar become a butterfly?
“[Butterflies] have these incredible emergent cells called ‘imaginal cells’. While a caterpillar has little to no structural resemblance to a butterfly, the imaginal cells hold the important future information needed for complete transformation. These cells move from working alone to working together to unleashing a butterfly in its new form. I find it deeply beautiful that the transformation in these cells invites the butterfly into what would be called joyful rest. It is something that I hope for personally and for so many others.”
— Rai Carter, 2022
Quaker Voluntary Service Program Coordinator
Reader Responses
What is your prayer for the future of Quakerism?
Loving God,
We thank you for the witness of Friends through the generations, and for the Light that continues to guide us towards truth, peace and love.
We pray for the future of Quakerism. May our meetings remain places of welcome, where silence speaks, questions are cherished, and all are encouraged to discover the Divine within themselves and others.
In a troubled world, may we continue to live out our testimonies of peace, equality, simplicity and compassion. Give us courage to challenge injustice, humility to learn from other faiths, and wisdom to listen for your guidance.
May younger generations find in Quakerism a living faith, open to doubt, rich in community and alive with hope. When our numbers are small and the future uncertain, remind us that even the quietest witness can change lives.
May we leave those who follow us not merely a tradition to preserve, but a Light to follow, a love to share, and a peace to embody.
Guide us faithfully into the future, wherever your Spirit leads.
Amen.
David M., Buriram, Thailand
A return to the radicalism of many early Friends. It seems, in many Quaker circles today, voting and protesting are all that is done. We need more modern Benjamin Lays and John Woolmans.
Mabon R. F., Duluth, MN, USA
That inner light shines everywhere.
Simiyu S., Lugulu, Kenya
I pray that our message of love and inclusion is spread over the world and brings solace to those in need.
Anne S., Braine le Comte, Hainaut, Belgium
My prayer for the future of Quakerism is that the importance and place of Meeting for Worship is never forgotten or sidelined.
Jason H., Taunton, Somerset, UK
That as the next generation inherits, we have the bandwidth to keep the society functioning. That matriarchy can bloom and we center the voices of marginalized folks. That the Divine guides us and that we are receptive to that guidance.
Jillian S., Albany, NY, USA
May Quakers worldwide work happily together with other religious groups in the pursuit of contributing to the healing of the world by fearlessly following the leadings they receive.
Barbara D., Mönchengladbach, NRW, Germany
I pray Quakerism will not die off, that it will attract young people and families. That it will be able to respond to the needs and challenges of each generation.
Carmel M., Rochester, NY, USA
That the spirit - which effects transformational encounters - continues to move people; changing their lives, their relationships, and the way they navigate the world. I don't care what name we ascribe to this, I just want it to happen.
Damian E., Nelson, Lancashire, UK
That we remember that there is that of God in everyone and all creation, and that we Love accordingly. Love is the path.
Chip A., Blairsville, GA, USA
Return to Christ.
Shawn L., Denton, TX, USA
I pray all persons affiliated with our society will continue to practice and exemplify Quaker values, traditions, understandings and testimonies in an increasingly troubled world.
Chuck W.
This Week’s Messages
Mon Oct 26
Nothing outlasts the truth
“Do not think that anything will outlast the truth, which standeth sure…. For the good will overcome the evil; the light, darkness; the life, death; virtue, vice; and righteousness, unrighteousness. The false prophet cannot overcome the true; but the true prophet, Christ, will overcome all the false. So be faithful, and live in that which doth not think the time long.” …
Tue Oct 27
Living a life of risk
“We pray for both the personal and inner strength as well as the corporate strength of a shared calling that will empower us to face all the trials that we will necessarily encounter. We have no illusions about the fact that to truly live a Christian life in these cataclysmic times means to live a life of great risk. We call on Friends to rediscover our own roots in the vision and lives of early Friends whose own transformed lives shook the unjust social and economic structures of their day…. And we call upon Friends across the earth to heed the voice of God and let it send us out in truth and power to rise to the immense challenge of our world today.” …
Wed Oct 28
What is a human being?
“We need to construct a wider vision of what a human being is, opening up each person’s human potential so that we hold each person as a human soul. Let us live a life that gives expression to the possibilities of the soul. Let us develop that alongside understanding the science of how the world works, but crucially, in ways that uphold the integrity and beauty of the world…..” …
Thu Oct 29
Look beyond the temporal
“[Look] forward beyond the things that are seen which are temporal to the things that are not seen which are eternal. Hold fast our faith and the profession of it without wavering, seeing that he is faithful who has mercifully called us.” …
Fri Oct 30
How early Quakers envisioned the future
“After we are gone, this same Life of Jesus shall rise up others who shall come after us, and no power of persecution shall be able to stop it. For the path of the just… shall shine more and more until the perfect day. And the testimony we presently bear shall be found true, and many in after ages shall set their seal to it, and the children that are now playing upon your streets shall come set their seal to our testimony, that it is true, and is of God.” …
Sat Oct 31
The concept of the 200-year present
“A favorite concept of mine is the 200-year present, a way of thinking about change. The 200-year present began 100 years ago with the year of birth of the people who have reached their hundredth birthday today. The other boundary of the 200-year present, 100 years from now, is the hundredth birthday of the babies born today. If you take that span, you and I will have had contact with a lot of people from different parts of that span. So think in terms of events over that span and realize how long change takes.” …
Read the source of today’s quote
