True Devotion
“I honor you / You honor me / Let this rhythm continue on / Eternally”
Quakerism in Couples Therapy
“When I became a therapist I thought it was the ethical thing to do to keep my religion off the couch. And in the beginning, that’s what I believed I was doing. But as I reflect, I see that my Quakerism has been a central part of my work from the very beginning, even though I rarely mention it out loud.”
Spirituality and Sexuality in Harmony
“Our sexuality is ultimately tied to who we are as spiritual persons. The spiritual life enhances our sexuality and gives it direction. Our sexuality gives an earthy wholeness to our spirituality. Our spirituality and our sexuality come into a working harmony in the life of the kingdom of God.”
Quakers and Close Relationships
What does it mean to be informed by Spirit in…
How to Become a Member of a Spiritual Family
“We are born into families in order to be able to transcend them and become members of a spiritual family in Christ. Our new spiritual families, our families of choice, do not necessarily exclude our relatives, but, on the other hand, do not automatically include them either. It is important to clarify that this is an internal struggle that an individual faces and is not something to be imposed by some outside authority as has happened in some churches. Also this is not a matter of taking stock of what theological or political tenets or lifestyles our family members hold and then deciding to exclude those who do not believe or live the way we do. We are really talking about what happens to family members who are in abusive relationships…”
Joining in Marriage Is the Work of the Lord Only
“I asked a friend if they’d be willing to try a spiritual friendship practice with me. We met roughly once a month to talk about what was going on in our spiritual lives and to listen to each other. This brought home to me how powerful it is to be really listened to. Here was a space where I could talk about spirituality without fear of ridicule.”
How Powerful it Is to Be Really Listened To
“I asked a friend if they’d be willing to try a spiritual friendship practice with me. We met roughly once a month to talk about what was going on in our spiritual lives and to listen to each other. This brought home to me how powerful it is to be really listened to. Here was a space where I could talk about spirituality without fear of ridicule.”
Become for Each Other the Presence of God
“[We need to] rediscover the possibilities of a friendship in which the deepest areas of experience may be shared. Certainly that kind of openness seems to have existed in earlier generations among a group who were very significant in the life of the Society. Until this century it was not uncommon for Friends to travel in the ministry, following a real sense of leading in this direction. Often they went out in pairs, one older, one younger.”
The Hardest Lesson
“Love is the hardest lesson in Christianity; but, for that reason, it should be most our care to learn it.”
Why I Stopped Saying the Pledge of Allegiance
“When I left a Quaker elementary school for a public middle school as a kid, I was surprised and confused by the mandatory morning pledge of allegiance to the American flag. I didn’t like it, but my Quaker education hadn’t been extensive enough for me to articulate why. I ended up going along with it because I was afraid to rock the boat in a new environment. By high school, I had the time and maturity to consider it more, and I chose not to stand or recite the pledge. I didn’t like the idea that I was swearing allegiance to a symbol, that this oath was supposed to take precedence over my conscience, and I didn’t believe that our country really provides “liberty and justice for all,” as the pledge states.”
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